Birth of a Humpack Whale, Kohala HI: a Donnie MacGowan Film

Aloha...I'm Donnie MacGowan...I live on the island of Hawaii, in the County of Hawaii in the state of Hawaii...I love living in Hawaii, full of wonderful, amazing and fabulous things. For instance today, I saw a Humpback whale being born.

Winter and early spring in Hawaii are especially magical times—well, more magical even than usual in Hawaii. Starting about mid-November and lasting through April, Humpback whales visit our islands. From as far as way as Alaska and as near as California, the Humpies, as we call them, arrive to breed and, cows that bred last year, give birth this year.

An adult humpback weighs approximately one ton per foot, up to 90,000 pounds and can grow over 50 feet in length. Females are slightly larger than the males. Calves range from 10-16 feet in length at birth and weigh an average of 3000 pounds. Marine biologists believe that humpbacks live between 40-60 years.

And every year they come to visit me in my home.

On the West Hawaii coastline there is a place, and no, I'm not going to tell you where, where humpies are known to go to give birth—it's a deep, protected cove quite near the highway. My hiking buddy and I were returning from a trip into the Kohala Mountains when we noticed several cars pulled off the road at a spot overlooking this cove. And there they were...mother and baby, still attached by umbilical cord. The video, shot hastily and without a tripod is not great, but you can see the baby playing on it's back, nuzzling it's mothers teats and just generally reveling at being free and in the marvelous ocean.

I love being in the ocean...it is my place of peace, calm and meditation. But just try to imagine the joy that this baby whale felt, being born into that vast, magical and beautiful realm. Aloha baby humpy...travel safely and come back to us next year.

For more information go to www.tourguidehawaii.com or http://tourguidehawaii.blogspot.com

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• whale
• hawaii
• humpack
• travel
• donnie
• macgowan
• donald
• big
• island
• www.tourguidehawaii.com

[TomBrooklyn]

I go to the ocean at Coney Island, Brooklyn. It doesn't give me a sense of a vast beautiful realm, a place of peace and meditation. Maybe it's because of the human turds, condoms, and other miscellaneous garbage floating in the water and scattered around the beach.

[DrBlizzardo]

There are too many people on the earth, it's as simple as that. Where you are, people are stacked on garbage and must swim with shit. I don't know why you choose to live in such a place, but it is your decision, your kuleana.

If you do not like it, stop whining and work to change it. That, too, is your responsibility.

My suggestion? Foment outrage by posting videos about how hideous it is on YouTube. Simple, effective.

[TomBrooklyn]

Hi Doc,

Good idea about the videos. Thanks.

[DrBlizzardo]

Excellent! I'll look forward to seeing your videos!

[SensibleMoon]

Dude...you saw this from shore? Awesome...I thought you had to go out on the boats...

[DrBlizzardo]

Nah...sometimes you can see really spectacular things like this from shore--I wish I'd had my surfboard or kayak with me so I could paddle out--there was a little cluster of kayakers out with Mom and Baby after I ran out of tape.

[2amandnosleep]

yeah, please don't tell people where this is! this video is AMAZING! thanks for capturing it and sharing it with us! aloha baby whale and mahalo donnie!

[HerrBarrow]

Great video! Recommend tripod.

[Kohopololei]

We rented from Tour Guide Hawaii in Kona Hawaii, basically because we read Leonard's review last spring in Calabash Explorer...the Tour Guide people are so modest it can be a little hard to find their marketing...but it's worth it to check them out.

Awesome.