#humpback whale

Pacific Whale Foundation has served 2,484 students since January through its Keiki Whale Watch program across Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lānaʻi.

The Pacific Whale Watch Association announced today that iconic humpback whale BCY0324 “Big Mama” has safely returned to local waters after her winter migration in Hawaiʻi. The beloved whale swam roughly 3,000 miles from Hawaiʻi to Boundary Pass where she was seen between BC’s Moresby Island and Washington’s Stuart Island by PWWA member company Maya’s Legacy on Monday, May 4.

Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary is seeking to fill three primary and four alternate seats on its advisory council. Applications are due by 5 p.m. HST on May 18, 2026.

Whale Trust concluded its 20th anniversary Whale Tales event in Kapalua last month, drawing hundreds of attendees to discuss the latest humpback whale research and the future of global ocean health.

Pacific Whale Foundation reports it has successfully retrieved a rare, nearly intact whale placenta—the most complete specimen it has ever had the opportunity to study. This is the second full placenta that has been collected in Hawai’i, the most recent one was in 2020 by Pacific Whale Foundation. 

The findings challenges the conventional understanding of tiger sharks as purely solitary animals, revealing a predictable seasonal convergence of mature males and females that coincides with the humpback whale calving season in Hawaiʻi.

The Maui Nui Marine Resource Council will host its quarterly Know Your Ocean Speaker Series on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, featuring Lead Researcher at The Keiki Kohola Project, Dr. Rachel Cartwright, at 5:30 p.m. via Zoom.

The energy required for newborn humpback calves to grow after birth is 38 times greater than what they needed inside the womb according to research from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology in collaboration with Alaska Whale Foundation and other key partners. These findings were published in Marine Ecology Progress Series.

The Pacific Whale Foundation hosts “Race for Whales” on Sept. 1, a virtual endurance challenge supporting the organization’s vital programs in research, education, conservation and outreach. Whether you walk, run, bike, paddle, swim, or hike, every mile helps protect whales, dolphins and marine ecosystems.

“In the Wake of Whales” follows UH scientists as they study and monitor the annual migration of humpback whales from Alaska to Hawaiʻi.

A humpback whale missing part of its tail has been spotted off the coast of Anacortes, Wash., after completing a more than 2,600-mile journey from Maui.

Pacific Whale Foundation’s Spring Ocean Camp for kids in grades 2-5, takes place from March 17 to March 21. The camp gives children an opportunity to interact with the ocean environment in a fun and educational way during their spring break.

Volunteers on Saturday counted a total of 1,947 whales, including 802 on Maui, 153 on Molokaʻi, 263 on Hawaiʻi Island, 321 on Kauaʻi and 408 on Oʻahu. The count was part of the second coordinated effort this season by the Pacific Whale Foundation and the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

With the help of friends, colleagues and community, Kaufman created a lasting impact. For the past four decades, the Maui Whale Festival, which runs throughout February each year, has honored the arrival and departure of these majestic creatures.

The total number for the Great Whale Count on Maui was 702, for a grand total of 2,121 throughout the state.

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology biologists used drone imagery to understand how nursing humpback whale mothers and their calves fare as they cross the Pacific Ocean. Recent declines in North Pacific humpback whale reproduction and survival of calves highlight the need to understand how mother-calf pairs expend energy across their migratory cycle. The study was published in “The Journal of Physiology.”

Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” to hunt, but they discovered that they manipulate the bubble net to maximize their food intake in Alaskan feeding grounds. 

“If we can understand them, understand their behavior and what they’re doing, then it can tell us a lot about some of the changes that are taking place in the ocean. The whales are amazing themselves, but they’re even more valuable when we think about them as these, basically, indicators of ocean health.” — Marc Lammers, research ecologist with the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary

Volunteers counted a total of 855 whales throughout the state Saturday during the third coordinated event held this season. Similar counts held earlier this season resulted in a total of 2,124 whales observed on Jan. 27, and 2,141 whales observed on Feb. 24, 2024.

Each year between November and May, thousands of Koholā (humpback whales) return to Hawai‘i to breed, give birth and nurse their young. During this special time of year, boaters are reminded to reduce their speed and keep a safe and legal distance around whales.