Whale Watching in Maui & Whale Book List

The one thing that I wanted to do most while on vacation in Maui in January was to see the whales. My husband would point out the whales while we drove around, but all I could see, even with my glasses on, was a tiny splash, or maybe a little spew of water. That was not close enough for me.

It turns out that the humpback whales have been coming to Maui for millennia from November through April to give birth to one calf and raise that baby until it’s strong enough to migrate. The mother, shockingly, doesn’t eat during this entire time and loses half her blubber to create milk for her baby. In fact, the mother doesn’t eat during this time because her food source, krill, isn’t available. She produces fifty gallons of milk per day for her young one which accounts for a third of her body weight.

Mother humpback whales and babies have this “nursery” experience in the waters off the shores of Maui. It is probably because this area is more shallow than the deep ocean which makes it warmer in temperature. It’s also a protected cove; it truly is a natural nursery in the vast ocean.

My friend Michelle and I ended up taking a Catamaran tour out of Kaanapali. It was a two-hour tour which felt like the perfect amount to us. We lucked out and had a perfect whale-watching day; the sea was smooth as glass and the sun was out but it wasn’t too hot. Michelle was worried about getting seasick but this large catamaran was a steady and stable ship.

Honestly, our biggest worry was dropping our iPhones into the ocean while filming the myriad of whales frolicking on the surface. Another fun fact: humpback whales only spend 20% of their time at the top of the water. Also, they can hold their breath for 45 to 50 minutes so once their tail comes out, it means they are diving deep into the ocean and they are probably not coming up for a while. Or at least, until your boat has moved on. But not to worry, there are always new clusters of whales to spot.

I wanted to use a Native Hawaiian-owned tour company for my whale-watching experience. Failing to find that, I wanted a small local company just to help out the economy. However, I was only able to do the whale watching on Tuesday, and my first choice company is closed that day. My second choice company was booked solid for that week. That was my fault. I booked it two days in advance.

We ended up using Teralani.com which seemed like a rather large enterprise. Nonetheless, they did an excellent job and we truly enjoyed every minute of our experience, especially hearing the whales call to each other as the boat had an underwater sound system hooked up to the deck. The crew was also knowledgeable about the humpback whales and plied us with interesting facts during the slow times when we were waiting for the whales to appear.

While our catamaran did not get extremely close to the whale (which I think is not actually allowed), there were smaller boats that did. I suspect these smaller boats provided private or semi-private tours. Still, no one saw a whale breach right next to their boat, an image seared into my mind by the ads you see everywhere for whale watching. Sigh. I don’t think that happens very often.

I highly recommend a whale-watching tour! I also wanted to share some excellent newly published nonfiction picture books about the life cycle of the whale. Please see my whale book list below the video.

p.s. Related posts:

7 Stories About Saving Sea Creatures That Center BIPOC Protagonists

10 Oceanography Books for Kids

Top 5 Picture Books on Ocean Pollution

Visiting the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago

Zoology Books and Activities for Kids

An Insider’s Guide to Science Internships for High School Students

Children’s Books About Whales

If I Were a Whale by Shelley Gill, illustrated by Erik Brooks

If I were a humpback,

I’d sing songs every day,

off the coast of Hawaii

in Puako Bay.

Rhyming text introduces very young readers to different types of whales and the different ocean environments that they live in. [board book, ages baby and up]

Whale Fall: Exploring an Ocean-Floor Ecosystem by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Rob Dunlavey

A gray whale can live for seventy years or so and when it dies, it falls onto the ocean floor where it sustains many ocean creatures for another fifty years. From sharks to hagfish, to crabs, and zombie worms, the whale’s carcass is a feeding ground for hundreds of species. This community centered around the whale fall was discovered in 1987 off the coast of California. Pair this book with Life After Whale which covers the same topic but in more depth perfect for an older reader. [nonfiction picture book, ages 4 and up]

Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall by Lynn Brunelle, illustrated by Jason Chin

Winner of the Robert F. Sibert Medal

The life cycle of a ninety-year-old female blue whale begins in this book with her feeding on krill and ends with her body decomposing at the bottom of the ocean becoming an ecosystem that sustains thousands of ocean creatures for more than a hundred years. The blue whale is the largest animal on earth and the science of a whale fall is a new and fascinating one, depicting a lifecycle that is truly a circle of life. Dense with information yet easy to understand, this is a book that seamlessly weaves in STEM concepts and draws the reader into this newly discovered ecosystem revolving around a single whale whose end of life fuels an underwater universe deep down on the ocean floor. [nonfiction picture book, ages 7 and up]

Whales: An Illustrated Celebration by Kelsey Oseid

“Humpback Whale, Megaptera novaeangliae

Considered the most energetic and acrobatic of the large whales, it is known for its leaping, breaching, flipper slapping, and tail throws. It also has one of the largest mammal migrations in the world, swimming 10,000 miles (16,000 km) or more on round trips between its calving and feeding grounds.

[The humpback whale tail markings] … are so unique that photos of their flukes alone can be enough to track and identify individual humpback whales.”

… many humpback whales breed and give birth to their young in the warm waters of the tropics — an ideal environment for new babies — but migrate seasonally to cold polar seas, where food is more plentiful.”

Whales, dolphins, and porpoises are covered in this beautiful book with illustrations that accurately convey the size and details of each sea mammal. While the information is depicted through the illustrations, the topics are both wide and deep, covering such concepts as anatomy, behaviors, food, and evolution. The heart of the book, however, is devoted to showing the different species of each of these three sea mammals. This is a fun book to flip through and each page takes the reader on a learning journey that is both pleasant and easy to understand. [illustrated nonfiction picture book, ages 6 and up]

Whales: An Illustrated Celebration by Kelsey Oseid

Willa and the Whale by Chad Morris, illustrated by Shelly Brown

Willa has returned home to Washington state to live with her father under the worst of conditions. Three years ago when her parents divorced, she chose to live with her marine biologist mother in Japan. But when her mother died unexpectedly from a heart decision, Willa finds that it’s not that easy to slot herself back into her old life. While on a whale-watching excursion, Willa meets a humpback whale, Meg, and finds that they can communicate with each other. This is a source of comfort and Meg is also able to offer her advice when she needs it the most. Willa finds that she is able to revive her friendship with her best friend, Marc, but he has his own secrets. Most of all, Willa learns that in dealing with grief, it’s critical to have a pod around you. The book uses journal entries covering marine biology topics to segue into the story’s plot. It’s a clever device that will turn the reader into a marine biology enthusiast. This book has all the feels, with a well-paced storyline, and characters that feel very real and relatable. I’m surprised that this book didn’t win more awards. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]

Kayaker in Chile swallowed whole by a humpback whale before it spits him back out unharmed.

“Humpback whales are large creatures, weighing around 40 tons and reaching up to 60 feet long, which is about 15 feet longer and 30,000 pounds more than a full-sized school bus. But generally, humpback whales are not inclined to make humans a part of their charcuterie boards so attacks are extremely rare, their preferred food is actually tiny sea creatures. They eat plankton, krill, and small fish, humans simply don’t fit into their diet. (from Upworthy)

Whale songs reveal similarities to human speech

“Two new studies reveal that whale songs share sophisticated similarities with human speech, challenging the uniqueness of human language. Researchers found that humpback whales exhibit communication efficiency akin to human languages, adhering to linguistic laws such as Menzerath’s and Zipf’s laws, according to findings published in Science Advances and Science.” via Science Alert

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My books:

Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court

ALSC Notable Children’s Book
Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
California Eureka Non-Fiction Award Honor Book
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
Junior Library Guild Gold Selection