The Hawaiian People and Humpbacks
A review of the archival, historical, and cultural records of the
pre-contact Hawaiians (before Captain Cook’s 1778 visit to the islands)
failed to find evidence for any interaction of the Hawaiians with
humpbacks, or apparently, even awareness that the whales were present
in Hawaiian waters. After an extensive search of the historical
record, Herman (1979) concluded that either the whales were not
present in significant numbers prior to the early part of the 19th
century, or for about 1000 years of habitation of the islands by
the Hawaiians, the presence of the whales was ignored. The latter
alternative seemed unlikely given the intense interest in and close
association of the Hawaiians with the ocean and its inhabitants.
This matter is still an open question, however.
Herman, L.
M. (1979). Humpback whales in Hawaiian waters: A study in historical
ecology. Pacific Science 33, 1-15.
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