Top Maui Headlines with Kiaora Bohlool

A 38-year-old Lahaina man died on Sunday after he reportedly ,drowned at the spot known as “Puka Maui” in the East Maui region. Around noon on February 11, the man and six other friends made the hike down to a trailhead when the group entered the water to swim to the opposite side of the bay. Although it’s unclear what went wrong, his friends saw him floating unresponsive in the water and pulled him onto a rocky point where they began performing CPR. It was at least an hour later before someone from the group reached the highway and was able to call 9-1-1 for help. By the time rescue crews got the victim to paramedics via helicopter, too much time had passed and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident was Maui County’s 11th ocean related fatality this year.

A 74-year-old man from Tokyo was pulled unresponsive from the water on the south side of Puʻu Kekaʻa, in Kāʻanapali on Tuesday. The man had been swimming and was last seen using a flotation device when bystanders found him floating face down about 100 feet from the beach and pulled him to shore where they started CPR. The man regained a pulse and paramedics transported him to Maui Memorial Medical Center in critical condition.

Pacific Whale Foundation’s Founder and executive director, Greg Kaufman, passed away on Saturday after a battle with brain cancer. The foundation announced Kaufman had recently underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment in early January. Kaufman founded the Pacific Whale Foundation 38 years ago in response to humpback whales being brought to near extinction by commercial whaling. As a result of his efforts, Pacific Whale Foundation now has the longest running research program of humpback whales off the coast of Australia, and curates the largest database of photo-identified humpback whales in the South Pacific.

The legendary voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa will return to Maui for 10 days when it stops at Māʻalaea Harbor between Feb. 19 to March 2, 2018, as part of the Mahalo, Hawaiʻi Sail. Hōkūleʻa is scheduled to arrive at Māʻalaea Harbor at 9 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 19. The canoe and crew will be greeted by the Hui o Waʻa Kaulua, Maui’s voyaging canoe society, and other Maui community cultural groups who will hold a welcome ceremony open to the general public. During the 10-day engagement, the Hōkūleʻa crew will be hosting school tours and public dockside canoe tours.