Snorkeling with Whales in Maui, Hawaii

The sound of the whales singing reverberated through my body. I held my hand to my chest, breathless--and not just because I was 30 feet below the water’s surface. 

My dive watch told me I was only underwater for 40 seconds, but it felt much longer as I listened to what I could only imagine was a chorus of male humpback whales having a party somewhere close by.

In the winter months, pods of humpback whales migrate to the warm Hawaiian waters to give birth to their calves. The island of Maui offers a safe haven for these calves to grow, away from many of their natural predators.

It was January, my second year of visiting Maui during winter, and I was freediving off-shore, just north of Lahaina. Past the reef near the shoreline, the ocean floor turned sandy and it was in this spot that I heard the whales singing louder than ever before.

The feeling was so peculiar-- my whole body felt like a guitar string that had just been plucked, or like the internal vibration you get from humming, but magnified a hundred times.

When I surfaced for air, the feeling that I had just experienced something so special, so important, really hit me. Looking towards shore at the beachgoers and the concrete jungle of resorts, the world felt eerily quiet. Children laughing mixed with noise from the highway and the sounds of a Luau starting nearby, but it all felt distant. I wanted to shout out to them, “Get in the water! Come listen to the whales!” but I didn’t. I dove back down for one final song, before the sun sank below the horizon and it was time to head in to shore.

With my fins in hand, I walked, sopping wet, past the tourists who looked quizzically at my long fin blades and weight belt. Some were getting ready to head to dinner, others were scrolling Instagram or taking photos of the sunset. 

All the while, whales were singing. I was happy to have spent a moment in their audience.