#National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The Polynesian Voyaging Society is altering the next phase of their Moananuiākea voyage in response to an intensifying El Niño pattern in the Pacific, announcing plans to depart Aotearoa in August 2026.

Three students with roots on Maui—a Maui High graduate researching plant-based fire suppressants, a Seabury Hall senior focused on native plant restoration and a college student who found her calling working with the Maui Invasive Species Committee—have been selected as the 2026–2027 recipients of the Friends of Haleakalā National Park’s annual memorial scholarship.

Maui County logged its second wettest season in 30 years during the 2025–2026 wet season. Rainfall totals ran 100 to 250% of average across most of the county and catastrophic flooding hit multiple areas statewide, according to a summary released this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Following a disturbing incident involving an alleged attack on a Hawaiian monk seal in Lahaina, US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries, called on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to step up efforts to better educate the public on the need to protect Hawaiian monk seals, one of the most endangered seal species in the world.

The Department of Land and Natural Resources is investigating social media postings on Instagram that appear to show an adult male throwing an object toward a monk seal while it was swimming in the water off the Lahaina shoreline.

“This new institute combines [University of Hawaiʻi]’s strengths in cutting-edge, ocean-related research and our collaborative, place-based approach to working with resource managers throughout Hawaiʻi and the Pacific to protect our vital coral reefs,” said University of Hawaiʻi Interim Vice President for Research and Innovation Chad Walton.

The Marine Institute at Maui Ocean Center has launched a comprehensive stakeholder survey and community initiative aimed at reducing vessel grounding incidents and strengthening reef protection and response systems across Maui.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration led no shortage of scientific breakthroughs in 2025: from launching satellites with new instruments to advance space weather observations to deploying unmanned systems for critical data that could improve hurricane forecasts.

Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources and its partners began monitoring the sperm whale carcass Feb. 6; waters from Makalawena to Honokōhau are of particular concern during the next few weeks.

The “Go Slow – Whales Below” initiative is urging mariners to exercise caution as humpback whale season reaches its peak in Hawaiian waters. The safety warning follows the recent discovery of a humpback whale calf off the west coast of Oʻahu with a large gash across its back, an injury likely caused by a vessel […]

A bipartisan appropriations deal passed by the US Senate on Thursday includes millions of dollars in federal funding designated for the acquisition of East Maui rainforest lands, maintenance for Kahului Harbor and an assessment of Maui watersheds.

US Rep. Jill Tokuda backed a bipartisan minibus funding package Thursday that includes $1,092,000 for the Maui County to upgrade the Lahaina Water Treatment Plant. The legislation, which passed the House by a vote of 397-28, now moves to the Senate. The package includes funding for the departments of Commerce, Justice, Energy and Interior, as well […]

The Hawaiʻi Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission has launched an updated version of the State of Hawaiʻi Sea Level Rise Viewer, an online tool giving communities and local officials clearer insight into the growing threats facing our coastlines.

A University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa graduate’s new research has revealed that plastic pollution may pose an underappreciated threat to the survival of endangered coral reefs. The study, led by Keiko Wilkins, a recent PhD graduate from UH Mānoa’s Marine Biology Graduate Program, found that chemicals released from plastics disrupt two critical processes essential for […]

Hawaiʻi Pacific University undergraduate students and faculty researchers are contributing to important new research aimed at reducing incidents of ciguatera poisoning, a serious, underreported illness caused by eating reef fish and invertebrates contaminated with naturally occurring marine toxins.

The bill aims to bolster the security of AI weather models by requiring the development of a US weather dataset.

Maui County Council members heard about progress and plans for future needs Tuesday from the Maui Emergency Management Agency, now less than two years after the August 2023 wildfires disaster.

At Wednesday’s Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing for Secretary of Commerce nominee Howard Lutnick, US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) pressed Lutnick on conducting a fair census count, protecting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from Project 2025 threats, consulting with Hawai‘i leaders on Pacific fisheries decisions and strengthening artificial intelligence safety.

Public comments are due Jan. 17 on Elon Musk’s plans for his SpaceX rockets to splash down in a much wider area, including Hawaiian waters and 240 nautical miles east of the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary.

The application to become an Ocean Guardian Youth Ambassador is now open. The program by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides a new level of engagement for youth committed to ocean conservation and stewardship.