15th Annual Guess the First Humpback Whale Sighting Contest

Hawaii’s humpback whale season generally runs from late December through about early April, give or take a couple of weeks. They travel for thousands of miles to come to the protected waters to mate and give birth.

Seeing the whales leap out the ocean, breath and slap their fins and flukes is so very, very exciting. So, humpback whale season is special time to visit the Hawaiian Islands.

Though the “official” humpback whale season is still at least three months away, there are always some whales who decide to start their Hawaii vacations a little bit early. We’ve been tracking these first sightings for many years. Here’s our running list.

2006 – October 11
2007 – October 7
2008 – October 8
2009 – October 20
2010 – October 20
2011 — September 26
2012 — August  30
2013 — October 5
2014 — September 16
2015 — September 29
2016 – August 25
2017 — October 10
2018 — October 8
2019 — October 1
2020 — October 8
2021 — September 29
2022 – September 14
2023 — October 9

—

Update: 2024 sighting was October 6th.

—

So, now it’s time for a little bit of fun. Let’s hear your guess for the first arrival. Here’s how this contest will work.

• Pick the earliest date you think the first whale sighting will be this coming season.  Enter your prediction in the comment section, which is at the bottom of this post. (Sorry, but we can’t accept guesses emailed to us or comments on Facebook. If you are reading this article on email, go to this post page to enter your comment.)
  • When entering your comment, you must use a valid email address in the email field so that we can contact you when/if your prediction is correct. Note that your email address will not be publicly visible with your comment.
  • When entering your comment, you can leave the URL/website field empty. That’s an optional field for you to use if you have your own website.
  • Note: if you are a first-time commenter, your comment will first go into moderation. It may up to 12 hours for us to be alerted. Once we’re alerted to it, we will approve it, then it will display.

• The closest prediction without going over will win bragging rights and a copy of Fascinating Facts About Hawaii by Jim Loomis.
• We’ll use Hawaii newspapers and news stations as our sources to determine the first whale sighting of this season.
• One entry per person will be accepted.
• Anyone from around the world is eligible to enter. We have a two-time winner from Italy.
• Entries will be accepted through September 6, 2024.  In the event that the first whale sighting is before September 6, valid entries will be accepted through the day before the reported sighting.

Not only will you have bragging rights, should you win, we also have a small prize. This year’s prize is a book of Fascinating Facts About Hawaii by Jim Loomis. Here’s the image of the front cover.

Alright, it’s time now to enter your guess in the comment section below.