LIHUE — Vog and a high overcast of clouds greeted Sanctuary Ocean Count volunteers on Saturday during the third and final Sanctuary Ocean Count for 2025.
“Across the main Hawaiian Islands, weather conditions were mostly sunny paired with light winds, calm seas and some vog which was decent conditions for observing whales,” said Cindy Among-Serrao, the Hawaii Island program coordinator, contractor with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation in support of the NOAA Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.
“A variety of other species were also spotted during the count, including honu (green sea turtles), ilioholoikauaua (Hawaiian monk seals), mano (shark), naia (spinner dolphins), and multiple bird species such as iwa (great frigatebird), moli (Laysan albatross), koae ula (red-tailed tropic bird), nene (Hawaiian goose), manu-o-ku (white tern), and more,” Among-Serrao said.
A total of 489 volunteers gathered data from the shores of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai and Hawaii Island during the Saturday Sanctuary Ocean Count. Volunteers from Maui and Lanai, doing the Great Whale Count by the Pacific Whale Foundation, working together with the sanctuary for the seventh consecutive year, participated in the last of three coordinated whale counts between the two groups in 2025.
The volunteers collected data from 41 sites across all the main Hawaiian Islands. A total of 109 whales were observed during the 9:30 to 9:45 a.m. time period, the most of any time period throughout the day’s count that started at 8 a.m. and ran through 12:15 p.m.
On the islands of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai and Hawaii, Ocean Count volunteers collected data from 29 sites and a total of 52 whales were observed during both the 8:30 to 8:45 a.m. and 9:30 to 9:45 a.m. time periods, the most of any time period throughout the day’s count.
The Great Whale Count volunteers collected data from 12 sites on Maui and Lanai during 15-minute intervals between 8:30 and 11:50 a.m. A total of 61 whales were observed during the 9 to 9:15 a.m. time period, the most of any time period throughout the day’s count.
On Kauai, the total number of whales observed during the day’s count across 10 sites was 122. On Oahu, across 10 sites, 220 whales were observed, on Molokai across one site, the total was 11, and Hawaii saw 28 whales across eight sites.
The total number for the Great Whale Count across 11 sites on Maui was 307, and one site on Lanai reported 26 for a grand total of 714 throughout the state.
Among-Serrao said this number may represent duplicate sightings of the same whale by different observers or at different time periods or different locations throughout the day.
Data collected during the Sanctuary Ocean Count and Great Whale Count combined with other research efforts can help reveal trends in humpback whale occurrence within and among whale seasons.
The Ocean Count promotes public awareness about humpback whales, Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, and shore-based whale watching opportunities. During the count, site leaders tally humpback whale sightings and document the animals’ surface behavior which provide a snapshot of humpback whales’ activity from the shorelines of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai and Hawaii Island.
For more information, visit the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary website at www.hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov.
