Marga Goosen, the Sanctuary Ocean Count site leader for the Ahukini Landing location, was surprised with the activity at the site on Saturday, the second of three Ocean Counts for 2025.
The combined efforts of Hoomalu Ke Kai and the Kauai Coral Restoration Nursery set up their tent at the end of the volunteer row of counters to undertake an underwater cleanup of accumulated trash.
Amidst the action of the cleanup crew and visitors curious about the events taking place, a mother humpback appeared on the quiet ocean performing logging behavior. A few minutes later, a calf mimicked the behavior before moving southward.
“We have activity,” Goosen said. “We also had at least a half a dozen educations.”
Cindy Among-Serrao, the Count coordinator from Oahu, said volunteers from 44 sites — Ahukini Landing was one of those sites — across all the main Hawaiian Islands on Saturday. A total of 262 whales were observed during the 9:30 to 9:45 a.m. period, the most of any period throughout the day’s count.
On Kauai, the total number of whales observed during the day’s count from 8 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. was 321, Among-Serrao said. On Oahu, the total was 408; on Molokai, the total was 153; and on Hawaii Island, 263 sightings were reported.
The total number for the Great Whale Count on Maui, performed by the Pacific Whale Foundation for the past seven years, was 802, totaling 1,947 throughout the main Hawaiian Islands. Among-Serrao said this total might represent duplicate sightings of the same whale by different observers at various periods or at different locations throughout the day.
Weather conditions for viewing and observing whales across the state were ideal, with mostly sunny skies, light winds, and calm seas. This lent itself to viewing a variety of other species during the count, including honu, Malolo, and multiple bird species such as iwa, moli, aukuu, a, manu-o0-Ku, and others.
A counter at the Ahukini site noted a Hawaiian monk seal frolicking among the coastline break.
The Ocean Count promotes public awareness about humpback whales, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, and shore-based whale watching opportunities.
Jean Souza of the HIHWNMS, the on-site manager for the Kauai Ocean Discovery, said she conducted a special count with Captain Andy’s help for students at Waimea High School, many of whom had never seen a whale in their lives.
During the count, which coincides with the humpback whales’ time in Hawaiian waters, site leaders tally humpback whale sightings and document the animals’ surface behavior during the survey. This provides a snapshot of humpback whales’ activity from the shorelines of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, and Hawaii Island.
The Ocean Count is supported by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.
