HONOLULU — Effective Monday, volunteers for the 2023 Sanctuary Ocean Count need to register online at https://oceancount.org/.
Volunteer participation is also limited as the program returns to an in-person nature following the COVID-19 pandemic and since March 2020.
“There won’t be any of the full-blown volunteer trainings like before the pandemic,” said Jean Souza, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary program specialist. “I’ll do some training at the Kaua‘i Ocean Discovery at the Kukui Grove Center, but there is only a limited amount of space.”
The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary welcomes back volunteers for this year’s counts that are scheduled for Jan. 28, Feb. 25 and March 25, coinciding with the time humpback whales are in Hawaiian waters to breed and calve. The Sanctuary Ocean Counts are held on O‘ahu, Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i Island. A similar effort is done on Maui by the Pacific Whale Foundation.
On Kaua‘i, volunteers participating in the count utilize a dozen locations for sighting, including the Cliffs at Princeville, the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, a Kapa‘a lookout, the Ahukini State Recreational Pier, the Ninini Point Lighthouse, Maha‘ulepu-Makawehi, Makahu‘ena Point, Po‘ipu Beach Park, Ka‘iwa Point, Port Allen and the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands.
During the count period of between 8 a.m. to noon, count participants tally humpback whale sightings (from the shoreline), and document the animals’ surface behavior. Participants also note other species observed, including birds, turtles, dolphins and other whales.
The Sanctuary Ocean Count is a signature education outreach and citizen science project coordinated by the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. The count serves to promote public awareness about humpback whales, the sanctuary and shore-based whale watching opportunities throughout the state since starting in 1996.
The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources 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.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
