Whale-watching from Kauai’s coastline was the activity of choice Saturday for gaggles of residents, part-time residents and visitors throughout the island. More than 80 volunteers participated in the second annual Kaua’i Sanctuary Ocean Count to count humpback whales and monitor
Whale-watching from Kauai’s coastline was the activity of choice Saturday for gaggles of residents, part-time residents and visitors throughout the island.
More than 80 volunteers participated in the second annual Kaua’i Sanctuary Ocean Count to count humpback whales and monitor their behavior between 9 a.m. and noon yesterday at 12 locations. The event was part of a project to help with the recovery of the endangered and federally protected species.
The turnout was “phenomenal” compared to last year, when only six people showed up at two sites last year, Sanctuary officials said.
“It is my first time doing this,” said Mary Dickerson, a resident of Livermore, Calif., who lives part-time on Kaua’i. “We certainly can donate three hours. We need to protect these beautiful, beautiful creatures.”
Dickerson, a retired speech language pathologist, was accompanied by her husband, Marvin, a retired meteorologist. Both watched for whales at the Ninini Lighthouse at the mouth of Kalapaki Bay, which produced the largest number of sample sightings — 42 — of all the sites.
The count also took place on O’ahu and the Big Island yesterday.
A record high of 900 people were expected to participate in the O’ahu project.
At various Kaua’i sites, participants brought snacks, drinking water, breakdown beach chairs, binoculars, protective clothing and sunscreen.
During a one-hour watch, whales and two calves were seen, mostly within 1 1/2 to 2 miles from the bay mouth.
Tallying was done hourly to reduce the likelihood of duplicated numbers, said Sheri Knapp, a site leader at the lighthouse.
Kyle Jeffries, a therapeutic aide at King Kaumuali’i Elementary School in Hanama’ulu, said he wasn’t going to miss the chance to take part in the event.
“To have a chance to come and be around people interested in similar endeavors is kind of rare on Kaua’i. When it happens, you jump on it,” said Jeffries, who was accompanied by his wife, Anne, a teacher at King Kaumuali’i School.
Peter Bonfiglio, a scuba instructor with Blue Dolphin Charters at Port Allen, said he took off from work to participate in the project.
Nature made the job of spotting whales easy for the seven people who had signed up to watch whales from the lighthouse. The sun was out, the ocean lay flat like a huge lake, barely a ripple in the water.
Bonfiglio’s experience watching whales for the past 10 years, as part of his job, also helped others spot whales more easily and quickly.
Bonfiglio said some whales born near Kaua’i return to the area around the island for breeding, noting it was possible that whales seen outside Kalapaki Bay yesterday might have been born in offshore waters.
“It is possible we are looking at a generation of whales that were born here,” Bonfiglio said.
A flurry of whale activity occurred near or around a luxury passenger liner as it, assisted by two tugboats, made its way to the mouth of the bay, irritating some whale-watchers.
Nearly two-thirds of the northern Pacific population of humpbacks migrate to Hawai’i each winter for breeding purposes.
Humpbacks reach up to 50 feet in length, with the female being slightly larger than the male on average. They weigh an average of 40 tons, and their flukes span 12 to 15 feet. Humpback calves are 12 to 15 feet and weigh about 3,000 pounds.
Knapp said information on the sightings off the lighthouse will be sent to Kaua’i Sanctuary leader Jean Souza.
The purpose of the projects, sponsored by the Maui-based Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, is to generate data to help marine resource managers support the recovery of the humpback species in the north Pacific.
The information that is gathered doesn’t quality as “hard science,” officials said, but it helps promote better understanding of the whales and encourages stewardship of the mammals.
Count results have correlated with scientific studies that have shown the species is on the rebound, Sanctuary officials said.
Sites on Kaua’i were located on government and privately owned lands.
Prior to the count, Souza and several noted whale researchers conducted a training session on whales for residents, visitors, families and retirees at the Kukui Grove Executive Center in Lihu’e.
The sanctuary is administered by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
An event similar to Sanctuary Ocean Count is scheduled to be staged on Maui by the Pacific Whale Foundation this month.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
