Click here to see them. The overwhelming majority that we see near shore from December till May are the Humpback whales. We have also seen the more rare of the whale species such as the Cuvier Beaked Whale and the Fin Whale. Click here for some pictures of Melonheaded Whales, and Pilot Whales that were taken by our captains and crew. Since whales at Niihau don't have much boat traffic, they are less frightened of our approach, and we are more likely to be able to get close to them without intimidating or scaring them away.
Humpbacks come to Hawaii's waters to mate, and to give birth.
They spend the summer months in the northern waters of Alaska. The average length is 43ft. for males and 45ft. for females, and weigh 35 tons average for both sexes. Underwater they will ram each other with fins, flukes and noses. The good news is that they rarely do severe harm to each other. These animal are very common, although they can be rather shy and thus can be hard to find.