959 Whale Sightings During Great Whale Count

02/24/2007
by Anne Rillero, Communications Director
Pacific Whale Foundation

MA’ALAEA, HI -- More than 135 people from around the globe joined together to count endangered humpback whales off the coast of Maui today as part of The Great Whale Count, an annual systematic count of whales led by the nonprofit Pacific Whale Foundation.

They tallied a total of 959 whale sightings during the counting period from 8:30 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. The counters worked at 12 shoreline sites ranging along the south and west coasts of Maui, from the Ritz Carlton in Kapalua to Pu’u O Lai in Makena. There was also a counting site at Ho’okipa Beach on Maui’s north shore. With light trade winds and sea conditions that ranged from flat (off South Maui) to moderate (off the Ritz Carlton), the counters reported excellent whalewatching from shore.

“Our group of counters had two people from San Diego, two people from Colorado and three people from Germany,” commented Pacific Whale Foundation researcher Alicia Mallo, who was stationed at the Ritz Carlton. “The group from Germany said they chose to participate in The Great Whale Count because they wanted to give back to Maui while they were vacationing here.”

There was no time of day that stood out as being statistically better than any other for recording number of whales. However, the most whale sightings were recorded from 9:50 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., followed by the period from 11:10 to 11:20.

The greatest number of whale sightings – 243 in all -- were sighted from McGregor Point, the scenic overlook located between Ma’alaea and Lahaina.

The next best site was the counting station at Pu’u Olai, the hill behind Makena Beach State Park, which recorded 225 whale sightings. About 20% of the whales sighted at this location were calves.

“From 11:10 to 11:40, we observed a mother with a very young calf, perhaps two to three weeks old, swimming and playing with two bottlenose dolphins within 100 yards of Makena’s Little Beach,” commented Greg Kaufman, President and founder of Pacific Whale Foundation, who was stationed at the Pu’u Olai site.
“We also saw a mother, calf and juvenile whale with a large pod of spinner dolphins just off La Perouse.”

Kaufman’s group also observed about 20 humpback whales, outside the group’s counting area, all at the surface swimming at a medium pace towards Lana’i.  “It looked like smoke on the water when they would all surface together,” he said.

According to Kaufman, vessel traffic was subdued and vessels were more cautious in their travel speeds this year than ever before.  “We had one inflatable vessel get too close to the whales, but all other vessels were well outside the 100 yard approach limit and conducted themselves in a very respectful manner around the whales,” he said.

The count helps to raise public awareness about whales and whale research, and supplements data about whales gathered by Pacific Whale Foundation and other researchers.

The count is conducted in the same systematic manner each year. Counters work in 20-minute intervals throughout the morning. During the first ten minutes of each interval, they scan the area extending three miles out from their station, noting the numbers of pods, the numbers of whales in each pod, whether calves were present and the direction in which the animals were moving. They take compass bearings to note the location of the whales on a map. They also record data on sea state, glare, wind speed and wind direction.

Immediately following this scan, the counters devote five minutes to recording significant behaviors, such as breaches, pectoral fin slaps, tail slaps, and peduncle throws. The next five minutes are "rest time" -- and then the scanning cycle is repeated. The same cycles are followed at each of the counting sites.

The count is limited to within three miles of shore, because the accuracy of determining numbers in each pod or group and the sightability of calves diminishes dramatically beyond that point.

"Over the years, we have followed this systematic counting method," says Anne Rillero, Communications Director at Pacific Whale Foundation. “This lets us compare results from year to year.”

This year, Pacific Whale Foundation’s researchers dropped one site – located on North Kihei Road at Sugar Beach. This site had been the location of Pacific Whale Foundation’s former offices, located upstairs on the oceanfront lanai of a two-story building. When the building was razed to make room for luxury homes, Pacific Whale Foundation moved to its current offices in Ma’alaea. The site of the old offices, now a grassy lot at sea level, has proven to be poor for observing whales, and was dropped this year. It’s expected that the loss of this site may have resulted in a reduction of at least 50 whale sightings for the 2007 count.

Last year, there were 1,265 humpback whales counted – an all time record. There were 649 humpback whale sightings recorded during the 2005 count, which took place on a gusty, windy day. In 2004, rainy weather caused a disruption in the counting. In 2003, there were 815 sightings tallied. The counters on 2002 reported 673 sightings. In 2001, counters recorded 952 humpback whale sightings. In 2000, the sightings equaled 643, preceded by 558 in 1999. During the 1998 count, a total of 710 whale sightings were reported. In 1997, there were 750 sightings.

“I would say that the overall trend of the count since 1988 has been upward and reflects an increase in the whale population off Maui,” says Kaufman. “The good news is there continues to be more and more whales sighted off Maui, and more importantly they are remaining in the nearshore waters.”

The Great Whale Count is scheduled for time of year that is considered the peak of the season -- a time when the greatest numbers of calves and adult whales are found here, and the mothers and calves are nearest to shore. “However, the peak of the season can shift by one or two weeks in either direction, which has influenced the results of past year’s counts,” notes Kaufman. " Given that most of the animals today were either milling about or in a slow swim mode, and we saw few whales entering Maalaea Bay from the south (which is the norm in most count years), I think the peak is still ahead of us.”

“I anticipate some great whalewatching over the next few weeks,” he predicted. “As the season progresses we will see mother/calf pairs or pods with calves moving generally further offshore; the presence of calves in near shore waters now is a good indication that we are still a few weeks away from the peak of the season.”

About 60% of the population of North Pacific humpback whales migrates to Hawaii each winter to mate and to give birth to calves conceived during last year’s breeding season. The first whales of the season generally appear during the autumn, with the greatest numbers in residence from December through early May. Maui County, comprised of the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kaho’olawe, is known for the highest concentration of humpback whales in Hawaii.

The Great Whale Count by Pacific Whale Foundation was the first and original annual whale count to take place in Hawaii. Pacific Whale Foundation helped the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary launch its own version of the whale count, called the “Ocean Count” on neighboring islands. However, as Rillero reports, “Maui is the best for watching whales – we have more whales, and certainly more that can be seen from shore.”

For those who wish to watch whales from shore in the weeks ahead, Pacific Whale Foundation stations a naturalist at McGregor Point, on Route 30 between Ma’alaea and Lahaina, daily between 8:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. The naturalist will loan binoculars to those who wish to borrow them (at no cost) and will answer questions about the whales that are observed.

Pacific Whale Foundation also offers free admission to the whale exhibit at its Discovery Center, located downstairs at The Harbor Shops at Ma’alaea on Route 30. Visitors to the center can also enjoy free showings of the 25-minute film, “Why Whales Do That!” focusing on the behaviors of Hawaii’s humpback whales. Pacific Whale Foundation’s Discovery Center is open Mondays through Saturdays, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.