Whales are enormous in size and weight. An average Humpback whale can grow 40 to 50 feet long and can weigh 25 to 40 tons. Humpback whales are baleen whales, which means they have baleen hanging off their upper jaws instead of teeth. Baleen is made out of the same substance as our fingernails, and they use the baleen to filter their food. Baleen whales feed on krill and small fish by first taking in a lot of water, then filtering it with their baleen and eating whatever is left in their mouth.
Whales come here to the Hawaiian Islands all the way from Alaska.
They stay here for only 4-6 months and then go back to Alaska. They come to Hawaii just to breed and give birth, and they stay in Alaska to eat because here in Hawaii there is no food for them to feed on. Whales are mammals, not fish, which means they have lungs and breathe air and give birth to live young. Whales have lungs the size of a compact car, which allows them to stay underwater for a long time. The average down time or dive time for adult Humpbacks is 10 to 15 minutes and 3 to 5 minutes for calves.