Volunteers spotted 2,141 humpback whales, or kohola, on Saturday across the main Hawaiian Islands, the second count of the year held during peak whale season in Hawaii.
Pacific Whale Foundation Chief Scientist Jens Currie said it appears from the January and February counts that this is likely a “middle of the range” year and is not as high as some years, but he is keenly anticipating the March numbers.
“It looks like we might be steadily heading up again,” he said.
But he cautioned that the count “is not a true estimate of humpback population size. Instead it gives you a snapshot in time to compare relative trends in previous years.”
Maui topped the count with 948 sightings. Hawaii island was next with 466; Oahu had 363; Kauai counted 239; Molokai saw 86; and Lanai volunteers spotted 39.
Currie explained Maui Nui, which includes Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe, forms a shallow protected basin, preferred by mother-and-calf pods for feeding and raising their calves here.
It was the second of three coordinated whale counts in 2024 by 463 volunteers from the Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary’s Ocean Count and the Pacific Whale Foundation’s Great Whale Count.
This is the sixth year that both counts are coordinated on the same days, which ensures the data is collected simultaneously. It is held during peak whale season on the last Saturdays of January, February and March.
The data was collected from 45 on-shore sites during the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count on Kauai, Oahu, Molokai and Hawaii island, and the Great Whale Count by Pacific Whale Foundation from Maui and Lanai.
A simultaneous count from 9:30 to 9:45 a.m. from 45 sites
totaled 289 whales.
For comparison’s sake, Currie provided data from previous years’ February whale counts. Previous years did not have counts on Lanai and Molokai.
>> 2024, Maui — 948; Kauai, Oahu and Hawaii island (excludes Lanai and Molokai for comparison purposes) — 1,068; total 2,016
>> 2023: Maui — 596; Kauai, Oahu and Hawaii island — 401; total 997
>> 2022: Maui — 666; Kauai, Oahu and Hawaii island — 949; total 1,615
>> 2021: Maui — 250; Kauai, Oahu and Hawaii island — 408; total 658
>> 2020: Maui — 536; Kauai, Oahu and Hawaii island — 757; total 1,293
>> 2019: Maui — 774; Kauai, Oahu and Hawaii island — 2,093; total 2,867
Currie noted that 2019 was a “big year” but said that “we’re dealing with humpback whales that undergo trickle migration. They are not arriving at one particular time.”
Over the three months, portions of the populations might arrive, and the peaks are going to vary. Whales winter here to mate, calve and nurse their young.
“If you’re looking at a single morning in the entire duration of time, you can expect some variability,” he said, but he noted that “at least the observers and methods are standardized.”
“All three months are usually high or all low,” he said.
In a particularly low year, it gives rise to concern, he said.
Prior to 2015-16 there were steady increases year over year; then a big drop occurred in
Hawaii in that season, which correlated to the disappearance of whales in an area in Alaska.
Researchers discovered whales were lost from a region in southeastern Alaska, where they had been tracking whales for
30 years.
That was linked to a marine heat wave, which affected resources in feeding grounds,
Currie said.
