In Hawaii, we take our endangered humpback whales seriously. February is known as Humpback Whale Awareness Month and the last Saturdays of January, February and March are officially known as Whale Count Days for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. Hundreds of volunteers across the state brave potentially strong trade winds, pelting rain and searing sun to count humpback whales and record their behavior for four hours, starting at 8:00 a.m. We cancel in case of a tsunami, however, as was the case on Saturday, February 27, 2010, but we dutifully re-schedule, which is how I ended up on Crater Hill this past Saturday.

In the past few days, I've run across numerous year-end lists:  Just about every media outlet has gathered their top 10 news stories of the year, standout athletes of the decade, best books for 2009 and top-selling movies of the year.  In the same spirit, I've compiled "Nine for 09."  This is a list of our--mine and your--favorite blog posts published on "View from Here" since January.

Early November is not known for being a busy time in Hawai'i. It's like the pause between the in-breath and out-breath. That time right before the holidays when craft fairs, parties and concerts vie for spots on my calendar and when vacationers enjoy some time off from their hectic lives. And yet, for me, early November is one of the most exciting times in Hawai'i and that just might be the best-kept Hawaiian vacation secret around. 

On October 21, 2009, the first official whale sighting was reported off West Maui. (Those 45-foot, 45-ton behemoths sure like Maui.) So, I thought I'd share this footage of a whale filmed by NOAA. It's beautiful, especially because the slack key composition you hear playing was inspired by this footage. 

When I visit Maui, one of the first places I go is Maui Tacos. Thankfully, my plane touched down today just before lunchtime. After lunch, I traveled down South Kihei Road to the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale Sanctuary’s education center. And on to Papawai Scenic Lookout.

When the winds blow at 25 knots, the surface of the ocean looks like a shimmering  field of snow.  And all those whitecaps make it difficult to spot whales lolling about the surface of the ocean–even with binoculars.