LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i joined more than 800 volunteers who collected data from shorelines of O‘ahu, Kaua‘i and the Big Island Saturday during the annual Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count. Coordinated by Christine Brammer of the sanctuary, the
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i joined more than 800 volunteers who collected data from shorelines of O‘ahu, Kaua‘i and the Big Island Saturday during the annual Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count.
Coordinated by Christine Brammer of the sanctuary, the Ocean Count is a yearly shore-based census, which provides snapshot data on humpback whales. Information is gathered by participants who tally humpback whale sightings and document the animals’ surface behavior during the survey.
“We had a lot of activity while setting up,” said Jean Souza, the Kaua‘i Sanctuary Program Coordinator. “I (didn’t) know how much activity will take place during the count period of 8 a.m. until 12:15 p.m.”
Souza said the veil of vog hampered visibility, and in Kealia, site coordinator John Burger said binoculars certainly helped cut through the vog.
Statewide volunteers collected data from 59 states on three islands, and Kaua‘i was home to 15 volunteer sites.
Brammer, in collecting the data from around the state, said a total of 267 whales were seen between 11:30 to 11:45 a.m., the most of any time period during the Saturday count, with 57 sites reporting data.
Weather conditions around the state and the ocean conditions were ideal for viewing humpback whales with the exception of the vog, which made seeing whales at a distance difficult, Brammer said.
Based on the collective counts from the 15 Kaua‘i sites, the average number of whales, excluding any behavioral reporting, was seven in a 15-minute count period.
According to the preliminary data, Kaua‘i enjoyed the greatest average number of whales counted at seven. O‘ahu’s average from 26 sites was two whales, and the Big Island, with 22 sites, counted four whales during a 15-minute count period.
During the high-count period mentioned by Brammer, Kaua‘i reported 26 sightings with every site but the Ahukini Landing seeing whales.
Ninini Point, where Souza was helping site leader Mike Kano, reported sightings in every 15-minute count period through 12:15 p.m., its greatest activity taking place from 9 until 10:15 a.m. where counters tallied seven whales in each of the 15-minute increments.
Lumahai Lookout reported the highest number counted at 11 sighted in the 10 to 10:15 a.m. and the 11 to 11:15 a.m. periods. The Pacific Missile Range Facility in Mana had the highest average with 16 sightings per 15-minute count period and Makahuena Point on the South Shore reported a 10-whale average.
Souza said there were 152 volunteers doing counts through the 15 sites and more than 400 people received whale education from count volunteers at the sites.
Brammer said two more Ocean Counts are scheduled to take place on Feb. 23 and on March 30.
Visit wwwsanctuaryoceancount.org or www.hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov for more information on how to become a Sanctuary Ocean Count volunteer.
The Sanctuary, administered by a partnership of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the State of Hawai‘i through the Department of Land and Natural Resources, protects humpback whales and their habitat in Hawaiian waters where the whales migrate each winter to mate, calve and nurse their young.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
