Five-year-old Alana Anderson (far right) and 6-year-old Stella Anderson of Kihei check out the “Critter Station” with dad Ted Anderson and aunt Cheyenne Anderson of Waiehu at the Maui Ocean Center’s booth Sunday. The Maalaea Harbor Party held at the Maui Harbor Shops featured marine education, arts and crafts, food trucks, live music and local vendors.

Second photo: Pacific Whale Foundation volunteer Al LeBlanc describes the migration patterns of humpback whales to Canadian visitor Ryan Smith.

Third photo: Robyn Ehrlich, education manager with the Pacific Whale Foundation, examines a sample of plankton scooped from Baby Beach earlier Sunday. “A lot of the things we see snorkeling start out their life as plankton,” Ehrlich said. Whales eat krill, which feed on plankton, though there isn’t enough in Hawaii to support a krill population, she explained.

The Maui News / COLLEEN UECHI photos