#Great Whale Count

Citizen scientists on Kaua‘i observed 169 humpback whales March 28; a total of 435 whales were observed from shorelines at 37 sites throughout the islands.

The whale was spotted by Capt. Kekoa and crew members Noah and Jon aboard the vessel Holoholo while traveling offshore along the Garden Isle’s west side en route to Ni‘ihau.

On Kaua‘i, the total number of whales observed during the day’s count on Saturday was 321.

Volunteer citizen scientists collected data March 30 from 46 sites throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

On the last Saturday of January, February and March each year, during the peak of whale season in Hawaiʻi, hundreds of volunteers head to shorelines throughout the state, including Kauaʻi, to count and observe the marine mammals that migrated 3,000 miles to mate, calve and nurse their young.

A grand total of 2,141 whales were counted 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.

Saturday was the first of three coordinated whale counts between Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count from the shores of Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Molokaʻi and Hawai‘i Island and the Great Whale Count by Pacific Whale Foundation from Maui and Lānaʻi.

Volunteers must register in advance, and participation is limited for each Sanctuary Ocean Count site.

A total of 1,121 whales were observed across the state by volunteers for the Great Whale Count on March 25.

Volunteers from Kaua‘i, O‘ahu and the Big Island participated in the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count while Maui volunteers were involved with the Great Whale Count by the Pacific Whale Foundation.

Eighty-seven trained site leaders gathered data from the shores of the Big Island, Kaua‘i and O‘ahu during the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count and from Maui during the Great Whale Count by Pacific Whale Foundation, the first of three coordinated whale counts between the two organizations in 2022.