1st whale of season spotted off Big Island

Way to go Capt'n Tony!!!!!!!

HONOLULU (AP) — A tour boat captain has spotted the first humpback whale in Hawaii of the winter season — several weeks earlier than expected.

Tony Roensch, a Sea Quest tour captain, saw two tail-slaps from a humpback whale yearling in Honaunau Bay on the Big Island's Kona Coast on Monday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

Last year's first sighting was on Oct. 20 off Maui's west coast. Such sightings typically come on the first or second week of October, said Edward Lyman, marine mammal response manager for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

"It's a couple of weeks before we expected," he said of this week's sighting about 14 nautical miles south of Kailua-Kona. "It tends to be the younger animals will be our first sighting."

Roensch said he was taking six people on a sightseeing tour about 50 yards from shore when a woman in the group exclaimed she saw a whale. Roensch thought she had to be mistaken: "I said, 'No ma'am, we don't have whales this early.'"

But when he turned around, he realized it was indeed a whale.

"We stopped. I turned the motor off, hoping he would do something or show himself more," said Roensch, who has been a Hawaii boater since 1969. "That's the earliest I've seen it my whole life."

He radioed the sighting to his office and then alerted officials that night.

Humpback whale season in Hawaii generally runs from November through May. As many as 12,000 of the whales winter each year in the waters off Hawaii, where endangered humpback whales are protected.

Federal regulations prohibit approaching within 100 yards of whales when on the water; 1,000 feet when operating an aircraft.

"It's important for everyone to be extra vigilant during whale season, for their own safety and the protection of these magnificent animals, said Paul Wong, the sanctuary's operations coordinator. Collisions between vessels and the 45-ton whales can cause death or injury to boaters and whales.

Boaters like Roensch help officials monitor the whales in the sanctuary by reporting sightings or locating distressed animals.

"There are many more tour boats than our research vessels out there on the waters," Lyman said.