We’re excited to launch our 16th annual contest to guess the first humpback whale sighting in Hawaii. Though December typically starts the “official” humpback whale watching season, a few humpbacks arrive months earlier. Since we’ve been tracking the first sightings, some whales have been sighted as early as August 25, though more often the first sighting is in October. Learn more about Hawaii’s humpback whale season.
The prize for the 16th annual contest
This year’s small prize is a lovely print of Diamond Head. This 5″x7″ print is matted and signed by artist Donald K. Hall.
First humpback whale sightings from previous years
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
2024 — October 6
Contest process and rules
Entering this fun little contest is simple. Here’s how it works:
- 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 cannot accept guesses emailed to us. 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 the Diamond Head print.
- 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, 2025. In the event that the first whale sighting is before September 6, valid entries will be accepted through the day before the reported sighting.
- If we have multiple guesses for the same winning date, we’ll randomly select one winner of the prize.
Okay, now it’s time to put on your whale thinking cap and make your guess.
Sheila Beal
6 comments
October 4
My prediction for the first sighting of a humpback whale is October 5, 2025.
September 30
October 7th
October 7
September 4th 2025
First whale sighting