What Moon the Humpback Whale Taught Me on Her Last Journey from Northern British Columbia to Maui Moon a female humpback whale that has been tracked by scientists for years was discovered near northern British Columbia (BC) in Canada with a broken back on September 7, 2022. Nearly three months later on December 1, 2022, Moon was spotted on whales' breeding ground near Maui, Hawaii, USA. Scientists believed that Moon's broken back was caused by being struck by a large vessel. The broken back rendered Moon's tail completely immobile and she could only swim with her pectoral fins. The approximately 3,000 miles of journey for whales from the BC feeding ground to the Maui breeding ground usually takes a healthy female whale about 36 days to complete took Moon more about three months. Not only did Moon have to endure the paralyzing pains from the broken back and completely relied on the strength of her pectoral fins and sheer will of her desire to complete this final journey ba