Volunteers count humpback whale sightings across Hawaiian Islands

Nearly 500 volunteers took to the shorelines on Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Moloka‘i, the Big Island and Maui on Saturday to count humpback whale sightings.

Saturday’s count was the second of three coordinated whale counts between the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count and the Great Whale Count by Pacific Whale Foundation on Maui. This is the seventh year that both counts were coordinated on the same days, ensuring the data from all the main Hawaiian Islands were collected simultaneously.

Volunteers collected data from 44 sites across all the main Hawaiian Islands on Feb. 22, according to a press release from the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. A total of 262 whales were observed between 9:30 to 9:45 a.m., the most of any time period throughout the day’s count.

On Kaua‘i, the total number of whales observed during the day’s count was 321, on O‘ahu, the total was 408, on Molokaʻi, the total was 153 and Hawai‘i 263. The total number for the Great Whale Count on Maui was 802, for a grand total of 1,947 throughout the main Hawaiian Islands.

This number may represent duplicate sightings of the same whale by different observers or at different time periods or different locations throughout the day.

Data collected during the Sanctuary Ocean Count and Great Whale Count combined with other research efforts can help reveal trends in humpback whale occurrence within and amongst whale seasons, according to the release.

Across the main Hawaiian Islands, weather conditions were ideal for observing whales being mostly sunny with light winds and calm seas. A variety of other species were also spotted during the count including honu (green sea turtles), naiʻa (spinner dolphins), ʻīlioholoikauaua (Hawaiian monk seal), mālolo (Hawaiian flying fish) and multiple bird species such as ʻiwa (great frigatebird), mōlī (Laysan albatross), ʻaukuʻu (black-crowned night heron), ʻa (brown booby), manu-o-Kū (white tern), and more.

According to the release, Ocean Count promotes public awareness about humpback whales, Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, and shore-based whale watching opportunities. Site leaders tally humpback whale sightings and document the animals’ surface behavior during the survey, which provides a snapshot of humpback whales’ activity from the shorelines of Kaua‘i, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi and Hawai‘i islands.

Ocean Count is supported by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

The Great Whale Count by Pacific Whale Foundation had site leaders count whales from shore as part of a long-term survey of humpback whales in Hawaiʻi, with 12 survey sites along the shoreline of Maui and a site on the shoreline of Lānaʻi. This event provides a snapshot of trends in relative abundance of whales and is one of the world’s longest-running community science projects.

Both counts take place three times during peak whale season annually on the last Saturday in January, February and March.

Preliminary data detailing Sanctuary Ocean Count whale sightings by site location are available here. Additional information is available on the sanctuary’s website at http://hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov.

Pacific Whale Foundation’s Great Whale Count data may be found here with additional information at www.mauiwhalefestival.org.

Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, administered by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and Hawaiʻi DLNR’s Division of Aquatic Resources, protects humpback whales and their habitat in Hawaiian waters where they migrate each winter to mate, calve, and nurse their young.