In seven days the Hawaii Superferry will expand its services with two trips to Maui, but there is concern that the vessel's new schedule will create a greater danger to humpback whales. We're in the middle of our peak season.

For the first time since it began services, the Superferry will be traveling at night and some are worried the crew will not be able to see whales in order to avoid them.

The Superferry's additional round trip will leave Maui at 8 p.m. and arrive on Oahu at 11 p.m.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration is worried the vessel's speed, combined with poor visibility at night, might mean run-ins with whales.

NOAA said there is a high density of whales along the Superferry's route to Maui. But the Superferry said it's always considered night travel in its whale avoidance plan.

"The captain and the first mate have a large night vision scope that is built into the ship to help them see at night," said Terry O'Halloran, of the Hawaii Superferry. "And our whale lookouts have night vision goggles which give them the opportunity to see at night, and the clarity on these pieces is quite remarkable."

"Hawaii Superferry had indicated they would use night vision goggles," said Naomi McIntosh, NOAA's sanctuary superintendent. "We don't have any information that those would be a tool that would be very useful at sighting whales at night, so that is something we would be interested in learning more about."

Besides night vision tools, the Superferry said it plans to travel North of Molokai to avoid popular whale spots near Maui.

It said it's also willing to slow down and even stop if they come close to the creatures.

The Superferry said so far, in its 28 days of operation, there have been no incidences with whales. Lookouts have seen them, but the vessel has been able to avoid them.

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