Bad weather hinders whale-counting effort

Advertiser Staff

More than 430 volunteers from around the state gathered on the shores of O'ahu, Kaua'i, the Big Island and Kaho'olawe yesterday for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count.

Volunteers looked for and documented behaviors of the endangered humpback whale at 56 locations. One whale was sighted off the coastlines of each of the islands of O'ahu, Kaua'i and Hawai'i; four whales were sighted off Kaho'olawe.

Some sites underwent bad weather during the count. That caused cancellations by mid-morning at some locations and poor visibility at others. Officials believe this may have affected the average number of sightings.

A separate whale count is conducted on Maui.

Humpback whales migrate in the winter to Hawaiian waters to breed, calve and nurse. Data collected can be used to corroborate findings that the humpback whale population has been increasing. Hawaiian waters provide critical breeding habitat for an estimated 5,000 whales, according to the National Marine Sanctuary.

Results from the whale count will be posted this fall on the sanctuary's Web site: hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov.