WAIMEA, Hawaii (KHON) — Some paddlers off of Hawaii’s Big Island saw a very special sight on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, when a humpback whale swam right underneath them before poking its head out of the water.
Guests at the Mauna Lani Resort were doing a New Year’s Eve sunrise paddle when the enormous creature made a pass-by.
The whale then swam back and forth beneath the surface before it decided to pop its head out of the water right in front of the paddlers.
The resort says they were just 10 minutes into the paddle when the humpback was spotted.
The whale stuck around for about one minute, but the experience will surely stick with the paddlers for a lifetime.
Humpback whales are known to visit the islands between the winter months of November and April to mate, give birth and raise their young in the warm Hawaiian waters.