LIHU‘E — The total number of whales observed on Kaua‘i tallied 94 during the first Sanctuary Ocean Count of 2023, according to Cindy Among-Serrao of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.
“No, this doesn’t count,” said Jean Souza of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, who was occupied with the beached sperm whale that came ashore Saturday morning on the south end of Lydgate Park.
The Kaua‘i total is accumulated from observations done through the various sites around the island that include the Ahukini State Recreational Pier area. Souza said not all of the 15 sites on Kaua‘i will be used this year, but confirmed the sites at Ahukini, Ninini Point Lighthouse and Kapa‘a lookout are being utilized for the count.
“I’m glad to be back,” a volunteer at the Ahukini site said. “I’ve been calling on every count, and I even took the workshop at the Kaua‘i Ocean Discovery as a refresher. I can’t think of anything better than spending four hours watching the ocean.”
Limited by just two site leaders at Ahukini, this year the count opened to a limited number of volunteers, swelling the group at Ahukini to 14 volunteer observers.
“Across the main Hawaiian Islands, weather conditions were not ideal, and made it difficult for observing whales from the shoreline due to poor visibility caused by rain and strong winds,” Among-Serrao said.
“During the count, a variety of other species were also spotted, including honu, or green sea turtles, nai‘a, or spinner dolphins, and multiple seabird species such as ‘iwa, or great frigatebird, moli, or Laysan albatross, kolea, or the Pacific golden plover, ‘ua‘u kani, or wedge-tailed shearwater, koa‘e kea, or white-tailed tropicbird, and more.”
During Saturday’s count, 264 volunteers gathered data from the shores of Kaua‘i, O‘ahu and Hawai‘i Island during the first of three coordinated whale counts in 2023. On Maui, the Great Whale Count by the Pacific Whale Foundation was only able to report from one of 12 designated sites due to heavy rain.
“Rain and storms across the state impacted several ocean count sites, creating poor visibility, or ending the count early,” Among-Serrao said. “Precautionary measures were taken to ensure the safety of volunteers and site leaders.”
On Maui, the singular Great Whale Count site reported 41 whales. A total of nine whales were observed during the 10 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. time period, the most of any time period throughout the day’s count.
On O‘ahu, the total number of whales was 246. Hawai‘i Island sites reported 206 total whales observed.
The ocean count promotes public awareness about humpback whales, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, and shore-based whale watching opportunities. Site leaders tally humpback whale sightings and document the surface behavior during the survey that provides a snapshot of humpback whales’ activity from the shorelines.
Ocean count is supported by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, and takes place three times during peak whale season. The next ocean count on Kaua‘i takes place on the last Saturday in February, while the final 2023 count takes place on the last Saturday in March.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
