Kohola (whales)+ Nai’a (dolphins)

Whales and dolphins are both marine mammals, or cetaceans. Cetaceans are famous for their intelligence and complex social behaviour, including living and hunting as families and caring for their young. Both are well known and deeply loved in Hawaii. Of the whales, the most commonly seen are the humpbacks that grace our waters November through May (most January through March), possibly because they make such a spectacle when they breach! But there are actually 18 kinds of toothed whales and 6 kinds of other baleen whales that have been documented in Hawaii and probably live here year round (Humpbacks make 7).

Equally, Nai’a or Hawaiian Dolphins, are adored for their cheeky antics. Chatty and intelligent, Nai’a are not just social, they can be just as fierce as sharks. Their anatomically fixed ‘smiles’ have made them a favorite of humans so they need little introduction – as beautiful communal mammals, they stay with their young, and nurse their weak. They live and hunt in packs, often coordinating their movements. We believe these, along with all cetaceans and sharks, belong in the wild ocean and not held in captivity.