A group of tourists went on a whale watching tour they’ll never forget on Sunday, when their boat was hijacked by 39-year-old Gary Puniwale. Officials say Puniwale grew tired of waiting at dock after the boat’s captain suffered a medical emergency. After untying mooring lines, Puniwale slipped into the bridge, and took the boat out of Lahaina harbor and into Auau channel. There, the Lahaina man began a bizarre 40 minute whale watching tour that ended with Gary crashing the vessel in the harbor.
According to Crystal Sea Whale Watch, Captain Phil Haurau of the Aloha 2 suffered a seizure just minutes before the expected departure time of noon on Sunday. The crew acted quickly to reassure passengers, and get the Captain safely off the boat. While they were assisting paramedics, the tour boat began pulling away from the dock, piloted by Puniwale. They were unable to get onboard before the Aloha 2 left the harbor, and called authorities who were unable to immediately find the hijacked tour boat.
Soon after, police and Lahaina Harbor patrol began receiving calls from concerned tourists reporting that something was wrong with their tour guide, who was “talking nonsense” and harassing a humpback mother and calf. Patrol vessels were able to find the Aloha 2 with the help of callers. A slow-speed chase ensued, and officials were able to bring Gary into custody after he piloted the ship across several lines, and crashed into the breakwater. Nobody was hurt in the incident, although the boat will need extensive repairs. Police say Gary has a long history with law enforcement. In August, 2041 he was arrested for abusing the short lived Tel-it police tip line, leading to a swatting incident at the Abramo Chop House.
Despite what is being reporting this morning, Gary says he was just trying to help. He points out that the tour was already over 30 mins late when he took command of the Aloha 2, and says that instead of pressing charges; Crystal Sea should give him a job. “I just couldn’t sit there and listen to all the negativity about the delay. I knew people were going to have all their plans screwed up, and maybe miss lunch reservations. So, I did what I thought was right at the time. I took the boat out,” he said in a statement.
“Like most people who live in Lahaina, I’ve been on a bunch of whale watching tours, and they’re all basically the same. You go out in Auau channel, drive around talking about whales and making jokes. To be honest, I’m not all that knowledgeable about whale biology and life cycles, but people come to see the whales and take pictures, not listen to someone yammer on about them. I think I was doing a great job getting the boat in a position where the tourists could take a picture of the calf without the mother being in the way. It was kind of rough out there, and I was having trouble staying between the baby and the mother. I was working on a way to get the calf to follow us when all of a sudden, there’s patrol boats all over, and a drone following us. All the noise and yelling was disturbing the whales so I tried to move away, but they kept following. I told them that the tour wasn’t over yet, but they kept threatening me on the radio. I could tell it was making the tourists nervous so I headed back to harbor. I hit a few things on the way in, but I didn’t think this was that big of a deal. I’m sorry that people are mad, but I was just trying to help.”
Puniwale faces multiple felony charges including up to a year in jail, and a $25,000 fine for harassing the whales. “It’s just classic Gary,” says a harbor official. “If you’re in the market for someone to screw something up or make a bad decision, Gary Puniwale is your guy. Doing the wrong thing is like his superpower.”
Although many were shaken by the incident, sisters Makala and Madison Brunnet say the tour was the highlight of their vacation. “A few people were worried about the captain being sick, but most people were complaining about having to sit at the dock. I thought the tour might be cancelled, but then we started to move, and Captain Gary came over the intercom apologizing for the delay. Gary promised the most memorable whale watching tour ever. He did not disappoint,” says Makala.
“Almost immediately, it became apparent that Captain Gary had no idea what he was talking about. He said things like: whales never stop growing, and can reach several hundred feet in length when very old, they breed in the channel because the rocky bottom is the perfect place to lay their eggs, they can hold their breath for days at a time, that sort of thing. Most people thought it was a joke until we spotted the calf. Captain Gary said he was going to try and get the baby whale to imprint on the boat like a duckling, and make it follow us around. He asked if anyone had bread that they could throw in the water to lure the calf from the mother. People didn’t know what to do. Then the police and Coast Guard show up, and Gary drove back to harbor, crashing into everything on the way in. I never felt scared or in danger really, it was all so surreal. I’d never hire Captain Gary to pilot my boat, but I’d take every tour he ran.”
