LIHU‘E — “We had several sightings early this morning,” said Mary Jane Burger, a Sanctuary Ocean Count volunteer Saturday at a remote site off the Kapa‘a Lookout. “Then the rains came, and nothing.”
Those sightings were part of the average 2.8 whales spotted within a 15-minute count period at seven sites on Kaua‘i, said Jean Souza, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Kaua‘i programs coordinator.
“It was windy throughout the morning with white caps, making it difficult to observe whales at times,” Souza said. “Some of the sites had intermittent light showers as well. Following the four-hour count period, Kaua‘i had an average of 2.8 whales, a decrease from the four whales sighted during the same January count in 2020.”
Burger was one of a dozen volunteers on Kaua‘i doing the first of three scheduled Sanctuary Ocean Counts, and one of the 68 trained site leaders who collected data from the shorelines of O‘ahu, Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i Islands. The three-island effort was coordinated with the Great Whale Count by the Pacific Whale Foundation on Maui.
Cindy Among-Serrao, a spokesperson for the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, said volunteers collected data from 31 sites across the state, with a total of 125 whale sightings reported during the 9 to 9:15 a.m. time period. This was the most of any time period throughout the day’s count, which ran from 8 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Preliminary data saw O‘ahu record an average of two whales in the count period, and Hawai‘i island saw an average of 3.4 whales.
On Maui, Great Whale Count site leaders collected data from 12 sites, with a total of 71 whale sightings seen during the 10:30 to 10:45 a.m. time period, the most of any time period throughout the day’s count, Among-Serrao said.
Similar weather conditions experienced on Kaua‘i were shared at other sites down the chain.
“While some sites had partly cloudy to sunny
conditions throughout the count, a variety of other species were also spotted during the count,” Among-Serrao said. “These included honu, or green sea turtles, ‘ilioholoikauaua, of Hawaiian monk seals, spinner dolphins and multiple seabird species.”
Saturday marked the first of three Sanctuary Ocean Counts for 2021, the second one taking place on the final Saturday of February, and the third one taking place in March, coinciding with the humpback whale’s stay in Hawaiian waters to birth and calve.
Due to COVID-19 safety precautions, the sanctuary and Pacific Whale Foundation are running modified programs without the normal participation of volunteers.
“Only half of the ocean count sites for Kaua‘i are being used because of the modified protocols that involve no public recruitment of regular volunteers,” Souza said. “In-person interactions with the public are discouraged at the sites, and site leaders are using masks and practicing social distancing.”
Additionally, the 2021 counts are being undertaken by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation because the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries staff and sanctuary volunteers are restricted from face-to-face interactions and are on mandatory telework status.
The Sanctuary Ocean Count promotes public awareness about humpback whales, the 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, providing a snapshot of humpback-whale activity from the shorelines of O‘ahu, Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i Island.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
