Volunteers Perform Final Whale Count of the Season

The annual Whale Count ended Saturday, March 26, where volunteers recorded a total of 136 whale sightings between 10-10:15 a.m. across the main Hawaiian Islands, the most of any time period throughout the day’s count.

There were 241 volunteers that gathered data from 44 sites off the shores of O‘ahu, Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i islands during the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count and from Maui during the Great Whale Count by Pacific Whale Foundation, the third coordinated whale counts between the two organizations in 2022.

Due to COVID-19 safety precautions, the sanctuary and Pacific Whale Foundation are running modified programs. This is the first count since the start of COVID-19 to welcome back a small number of volunteers at designated sites to participate in the count.

This is the fourth year that both counts are coordinated on the same days, ensuring the data from all the main Hawaiian Islands are collected simultaneously.

On the islands of Hawai‘i, O‘ahu, and Kaua‘i, Ocean Count volunteers collected data from 32 sites; a total of 93 whale sightings were seen during the 10 to 10:15 a.m. time period, the most of any time period throughout the day’s count.

On Maui, Great Whale Count volunteers collected data from 12 sites during 15-minute intervals between 8:30 to 11:50 a.m. A total of 56 whale sightings were seen during the 9:30 to 9:45 a.m. time period, the most of any time period throughout the day’s count.

Across the main Hawaiian Islands, the average weather conditions were windy, sunny skies and light to medium swells with white caps. These conditions impacted visibility, making it harder to view whales, especially during the last scans of the event.

A variety of other species were also spotted during the count including honu (green sea turtles), naiʻa (spinner dolphins), mālolo (flying fish) and multiple seabird species such as ʻā (red-footed/brown booby), koaʻe ʻula (red-tailed tropicbird, ʻiwa (great frigatebird), mōlī (laysan albatross) and more. One site on Maui observed an ʻĪlioholoikauaua (Hawaiian monk seal) hauled out during the count.

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 O‘ahu, Kaua‘i 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 Hawai’i, with 12 survey sites along the shoreline of Maui. This event provides a snapshot of trends in relative abundance of whales and is one of the world’s longest-running cetacean-based community science projects.

Both counts take place three times during peak whale season annually on the last Saturdays 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. Additional information can be found at www.mauiwhalefestival.org.