A 40-foot female humpback whale nicknamed Palette is haunting the waters off Lahaina, and she is not in good shape. Sanctuary staff say the whale, spotted last Thursday, shows clear signs of emaciation and old entanglement injuries. Responders who examined her report that she appears slow and in poor to moderate condition, with widespread red cyamid amphipods carpeting old wounds. Officials are urging mariners to be extra cautious in West Maui waters while monitoring continues.
Sanctuary assessment and immediate actions
As reported by Maui Now, Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary monitoring staff encountered Palette last Thursday and documented multiple deep entanglement wounds around her rostrum and thorax. The team carried out surgical cuts to remove any potentially embedded, life-threatening wraps after it proved impossible to tell whether gear remained. Sanctuary photos show large carpets of red-colored cyamid amphipods on her injuries. Maui Now reports the whale is about 40 feet long and that responders are asking the public to rapidly report any sightings, with photos or video if possible.
What officials want boaters to do
The sanctuary is asking mariners to maintain a legal distance of at least 100 yards from Palette and any other humpbacks, and to report sightings immediately to the NOAA Fisheries hotline at 888-256-9840. If you cannot call, you are asked to hail the U.S. Coast Guard on VHF channel 16, according to NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.
Boaters are urged to slow to recommended speeds: 15 knots or less when transiting water 600 feet deep or shallower, and 6 knots or less within 400 yards during direct approaches. That guidance was developed with the State of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Whale Foundation. NOAA also says the 2024–2025 season has been unusually busy for entanglements, and that only trained, authorized responders are permitted to disentangle whales because attempts by untrained people are extremely dangerous.
How the response works
Trained teams use small inflatable approach boats and long carbon-fiber poles fitted with hooked knives to make surgical cuts to embedded gear while keeping a safe distance from the animal, practices documented in recent responses. Local reporting from Maui News describes separate rescues in early January where sanctuary teams and West Maui response partners removed life-threatening lines from two whales off West Maui. Those rescues, along with the sanctuary’s data, underscore why rapid, careful public reporting is often the difference between a successful disentanglement and a fatal outcome.
If you see Palette or any whale in distress, officials say you should stay at least 100 yards away, document the sighting if it is safe to do so, and report the location and any photos to the sanctuary hotline. The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary provides detailed guidance on how to help. The sanctuary and NOAA stress that members of the public should not attempt to swim out to a whale or carry out a personal rescue, since such attempts can kill both the animal and would-be responders.
