Ambitious $3.3 million whale survey launched
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
We gaze at them in wonderment from shore and sea. We snap their pictures, paint their images, count their sightings and monitor their musical soundings. Books and documentaries relate their every activity.
Humpback whales captivate our imaginations, particularly in Hawai'i where residents and visitors eagerly await their annual migration.
But, surprisingly, little is known about these endangered behemoths of the deep, from how many actually exist to whether their numbers are increasing or decreasing.
All that could change with SPLASH — the most comprehensive scientific study of its kind ever undertaken. The three-year, $3.3 million survey will cover the entire Pacific Rim and involve hundreds of researchers from agencies and organizations in 10 countries.
SPLASH, which stands for Structure of Populations, Level of Abundance and Status of Humpbacks, is a joint effort of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Sanctuary Program and NOAA Fisheries.
"It is the biggest and most ambitious research study ever taken for the North Pacific population of humpback whales," said Richard Spinrad, NOAA National Ocean Service assistant administrator, in announcing SPLASH yesterday at the Waikiki Aquarium.
"It is unprecedented in terms of international cooperation, and in terms of geographic scope."
Adam Pack, assistant director of the Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory, said researchers will collect identification photos and biopsy tissue samples of 10 percent of the humpback whale population within the survey region. The last reliable population estimate pegged the number of humpbacks at 7,000 in 1992, but researchers are quick to point out that no one really knows how many there are.
"This study is going to provide a huge amount of new information about the whale," Pack said. "We'll learn much more about their population dynamics, and that is definitely going to help us better protect them."
Among other things, the study will try to determine how many whales are pregnant, what their survival rates are and how human contact affects the species. It will try to determine whether the whales are ingesting high levels of toxins in their feeding locations, and which areas are at the greatest risk.
David Mattila, chairman of the SPLASH steering committee and the science and rescue coordinator for the Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, said the world of marine study has come a long way from the days, barely a generation ago, when whales were observed through the sights of harpoon guns and researched by cutting the creatures open after they had been killed.
"This is a success story, so far," said Mattila of what is thought to be a remarkable recovery of the creatures since 1973, the year Hawai'i humpbacks went on the endangered species list.
"Of course it's one thing for someone to say I see more whales than I used to. It's another thing to put accurate numbers on it."
Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
