First Humpback Sighting of 2026 on Maui Sands Webcam—a Breach! (Oct 22, 2026)

The whales are returning to Maui! At 8:34 a.m. HST on October 22, 2026, a humpback whale launched itself from the water off Honokōwai, creating the first humpback sighting captured by the Maui Sands webcam during the 2026–27 whale season. Each year, thousands of North Pacific humpbacks—known in Hawaiian as koholā—migrate to the warm, shallow waters surrounding Hawaiʻi to mate, give birth and nurse their calves. Some travel approximately 3,000 miles from Alaska to Hawaiʻi in as few as 28 days. A breach occurs when much of a whale’s body rises out of the water before crashing back into the ocean. It is an extraordinary sight considering that an adult humpback can reach approximately 60 feet in length and weigh as much as 40 tons. Humpbacks and Hawaiʻi share a long and complicated history. Na