Where are Humpback Whale Sightings are on the Decline
By Karen Rose
KeOlaMagazine.com | January - February 2019
The Senegalese environmentalist Baba Dioum said that in the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught. Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale Sanctuary are putting this wisdom to use and focusing their research and outreach on educating the general public about the decline in humpback whale sightings. Every year from November through May, visitors from around the globe make their way to the Hawaiian Islands to get a glimpse of the magnificent humpback whale. Thousands of humpback whales migrate between Alaska and Hawai‘i during this time to mate and give birth in the warm shallow waters off Hawai‘i. During the 2015 whale season there was a noticeable shift. Operators of whale watching tour companies around the state began reporting lower than average numbers of whale sightings, as well as whales arriving later in the season. This trend has stayed consistent for the past three years and scientists are keeping a close eye on the whales’ changing migration patterns. “The last three years in Hawai‘i, we’ve consistently seen fewer whales than we would normally expect to see,” says Dr. Marc Lammers, Research Coordinator at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale Sanctuary. “The first year we wrote it off as an anomaly, maybe tied to El Niño. After the third year, it caught our attention more and we felt it could be a sustained trend. However, because we don’t know exactly what’s driving the reduction in the whale population, it’s difficult to know how concerned we should be.” Humpback whales live throughout the world’s oceans and migrate between the poles where they feed, and tropical waters where they breed. Expectant whale mothers migrate to Hawai‘i to give birth. The warm waters protect the calves from predation and allow them to stay warm while they nurse and grow the thick layer of blubber needed to survive the migration back to the cold waters of Alaska. In 1973, the humpback whale was placed on the Endangered Species List due to a drastic reduction in numbers caused by commercial whaling. This protective status proved successful and in 2006, researchers estimated that 10,000 humpback whales were migrating to Hawai‘i to birth 36 their calves. Between the years 2006 and 2013, the whale
population was estimated to be growing at an annual rate of nearly six percent. However, this trend is now in question. During the 2015 season, researchers realized the fluctuations in whale sightings appeared to be more than an anomaly, and they began delving into what was causing these changes. By 2017, researchers were reporting that sightings in some parts of Hawai‘i were down over 50 percent from the 2014 numbers and the sightings for new calves was down more than 35 percent. “We don’t know exactly what’s driving these changes in numbers of whales,” says Marc. “We have our suspicions, but ultimately, we have more questions than answers. We’re actively trying to develop a strategy for better understanding what’s happening and what might be driving the changes we’re observing.” Marc explains that it is still unclear whether there is a decrease in the overall number of whales, or if the decrease is related to a redistribution of whales to different areas. Whales are migratory animals, so there’s a
Majestic beauty of the humpback .
possibility their behavior is changing and fewer animals are migrating to Hawai‘i. Instead, they may be spending more time foraging or using other areas for breeding. “The reduction in population could be a temporary shift