LIHU‘E — Ed Lyman, a whale researcher, will be presenting a 90-minute multimedia program “Humpback Whales — Bumps, Gulps and Snags. What Does it All Mean?” Lyman is the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary’s Large Whale Entanglement Response Coordinator
LIHU‘E — Ed Lyman, a whale researcher, will be presenting a 90-minute multimedia program “Humpback Whales — Bumps, Gulps and Snags. What Does it All Mean?” Lyman is the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary’s Large Whale Entanglement Response Coordinator
His first presentation will be at 6 p.m. today at the Princeville Public Library as part of the HIHWNMS 20th anniversary celebration.
The second presentation will be at the Kaua‘i Museum at 3 p.m. Thursday. Pre-registration is requested for that event and can be done by calling the sanctuary office at 246-2860.
Both presentations are free and open to the public.
The presentations will focus on humpback whales and their ecology, both around the Hawaiian Islands, the whales’ principle wintering grounds in the North Pacific and Alaska, plus the whales’ principle feeding grounds, states a sanctuary release.
Lyman will touch on adaptations, distribution and habitat usage, feeding, whale song, breeding and life history traits, showing how the sanctuary and the on-water community protect these whales from threats such as entanglement, boat strikes and more.
One of the nation’s leading experts on large whale disentanglement, Lyman coordinates the response effort for large whales in life-threatening entanglements around the major Hawaiian Islands.
With the help of fishermen and others, he helps gather information to reduce entanglement threats in the future.
Lyman, who has participated in more than 65 large whale disentanglements, assists the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries in addressing large whale entanglement response in Alaska and the U.S. West Coast.
Lyman resides on Maui and is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire where he received a masters of zoology degree.
His studies with whales started in 1994 when he worked for the Center for Coastal Studies, a nonprofit whale research and rescue organization located on Cape Cod, Mass., as a member of its research and large whale disentanglement team.
Lyman has also worked with fishermen to come up with “whale safe” gear and fishing practices to reduce entanglement risk.
He has worked for the sanctuary program for the past 10 years and is also actively involved in field research of humpback whales in Hawai‘i and elsewhere in the Pacific.
The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary was established by Congress in November 1992. It is co-managed by the NOAA and the State of Hawai‘i, Department of Land and Natural Resources.
On Kaua‘i, the sanctuary extends from Kilauea to Ha‘ena.
Lyman’s free public lectures are co-sponsored by the Princeville Public Library and the Kaua‘i Museum.
Call the Kaua‘i sanctuary office at 246-2860 or email Jean.Souza@noaa.gov for more information. Visit www.HawaiiHumpbackWhale.noaa.gov for more information on the sanctuary program.
