Hawaiian Sunset

Tom shot this off Maui's western shore, looking out across the ʻAuʻau Channel toward Lānaʻi. The channel is shallow — about 250 feet at its center — and sheltered on all sides by Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe, which is why North Pacific humpbacks travel here every winter to give birth. The center of the channel, off Lahaina, was once anchorage for the Pacific whaling fleet — known then as the Lahaina Roads. Tom held the frame for the moment the rays cracked the cloud line — one mast against an entire channel of history.