Background of our Whale Research
Our study of the annual winter migration of humpback whales into
Hawaiian waters began in 1975, with a helicopter to verify the presence
of humpbacks in waters off the island
of Maui. At that time,
few of the public were aware that there were humpback whales in
Hawaiian waters. The military operations and restrictions on Hawaiian
waters during World War II, and the resumption of commercial whaling
for humpbacks after the war,
severely limited public awareness as well as the numbers of whales
remaining in the population (Herman, 1979). It was estimated that
in 1966, when humpbacks were finally afforded protection against
commercial whaling in the North Pacific, only about 1000 whales
remained in the population (Rice 1968). By 1977, however, several
projects to study the whales were underway, and a National Geographic
film on the whales was aired, increasing public awareness. In 1976,
the Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory (KBMML) carried out the
first all-island aerial surveys to document the distribution of
the whales throughout the Hawaiian Islands.
These early surveys, which continued through 1980, established that
the whales were most abundant in the waters of the four-island region
consisting of the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe,
and in Penguin Bank, a shallow bank extending some 40 km southwest
of west Molokai (e.g., Herman & Antinoja, 1977, Herman et al.,
1980, Baker & Herman, 1981). In contrast, whales were sparse
around the islands of Kauai and Oahu,
but were more common along the northwest coast of the
Big
Island. More recent
aerial surveys have traced the growth of the population overall,
the continued heavy use of the waters of the four-island region,
Penguin Bank, and the northwest coast of the Big Island, and also
reported the greatly increased numbers of whales around the island
of Kauai (Mobley, Bauer & Herman, 1999).
Our early work also included small-boat operations dedicated to
studying the behavior of the whales at close range and identifying
individual animals through photographic capture of the individually
unique markings on the
ventral portions of each whale’s tail flukes. We also established
shore observation stations along the coast of Maui to gain a broader
and dynamic view of the multiple groups (pods) of whales visiting
that area of observation. These latter techniques—small boat operations
for intimate study of the whales and shore-based observations from
elevated locations to obtain a “big picture,” have continued each
year since the beginning of research. In addition, we have supplemented
these techniques with extensive underwater work using snorkeling
gear and video cameras to obtain gender identification, measure
sizes of the whales, and document their underwater behavior social
structure of the groupings.
Beginning in 1980, our interest in the broadest understanding of
the whales took us to southeast Alaska, a major summer feeding ground
for humpbacks. Through this work, we were able to document that
many of the whales that we photographed in Hawaii in the winter
were also to be found in Alaska in the summer. Our early work in
Alaska, through to 1982, focused in large part on the whales visiting
Glacier Bay and surrounding
waters. Under a contract with the National Park Service, we sought
to determine the extent to which the increasing level of boat traffic
entering the bay was negatively affecting the whales (Baker et al.,
1982; Baker et al., 1983). As a result of this effort, regulations
were implemented limiting the number of vessels entering the bay
and restricting their speed and movement. The work in Glacier
Bay continues to the present, spearheaded by former
graduate students at the Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory.
More generally, through our undergraduate and graduate research
programs, our research effort has expanded greatly over the years,
resulting in 65 scientific publications, theses, dissertations,
and agency reports on humpbacks through to the end of 2001.
Baker, C. S., Herman,
L. M., Bays, B. G., & Stifel, W. F. (1982).
The impact of vessel traffic on the behavior of humpback whales
in Southeast Alaska: 1981 season. Final Report to the National
Marine Mammal Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service
(Contract No. 81-ABC-00114).
Baker,
C. S. and Herman, L. M. 1981). Migration and local movement of
humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) through Hawaiian
waters. Canadian Journal of Zoology 59, 460-469.
Herman,
L. M., Forestell, P. H. & Antinoja, R. C. (1980). Study of
the 1976/77 migration of humpback whales into Hawaiian waters:
Composite description. Final report to the U.S.Marine
Mammal Commission (Report No. MMC-77/19). United StatesNational
Technical Information Services, Arlington, VA.
Herman, L. M. (1979). Temporal and spatial distribution
of humpback whales at the island of Hawaiiand relations to the OTEC-1
project. Environmental Impact Report to TRW Inc.
Herman,
L. M. and Antinoja, R. C. (1977). Humpback whales in the Hawaiian
breeding waters: Population and pod characteristics. Scientific
Reports of the Whales Research Institute (Tokyo)
29, 59-85.
Mobley,
J. R. Jr., Bauer, G. B. & Herman, L. M. (1999).Changes over
a ten-year interval in the distribution and relative abundance of
humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in Hawaiian
waters. Aquatic Mammals 25, 63-72.
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