SCHEDULE WHALE WATCHES

100% of the proceeds from the Benefit Whale Watches support research through the Whale Tales Beneficiaries Fund! Mahalo to all of our whale watch sponsors for donating their boats and crew for the weekend! NOTE: Please be sure to take note of your Check-in Time and your Slip Number. All whale watches are two hours unless otherwise noted. Please note that boats cannot be held for late arrivals and refunds cannot be given for missed whale watches. Mahalo for your support!

7:30 AM

8:00 AM

9:15 AM 12:05 PM

2:15 PM

4:15 PM

Captain Steve’s Rafting Adventures WITH CHRIS ZADRA

Trilogy Excursions WITH HOWARD & MICHELE HALL AND FLIP NICKLIN

Dive Maui WITH GAELIN ROSENWAKS

Ultimate Whale Watch WITH JO MARIE ACEBES

Makai Adventure Cruises WITH JORGE URBAN

VIP Sunset Whale Watch SPONSORED BY: TRILOGY EXCURSIONS

6:45 AM

7:30 AM 8:00 AM

8:00 AM 12:05 PM

1:00 PM

Hawai’i Ocean Rafting WITH NOZOMI KOBAYASHI

Sail Maui WITH JIM DARLING, MEAGAN JONES, AND HALEY ROBB SPEARS

Trilogy Excursions WITH FLIP NICKLIN AND RALPH PACE (Sponsorship Benefit)

Maui Adventure Cruises WITH ED LYMAN

Ultimate Whale Watch WITH JOELLE DE WEERDT

Sail Maui WITH MARC LAMMERS

The Humpbacks’ North Pacific

Whale Trust co-founder, Dr. Jim Darling has led research programs on whales for over 40 years. Jim has been executive director of West Coast Whale Research Foundation, a Canadian research and education society, and research director of the Clayoquot Biosphere Project, a Vancouver Island community-based organization that promoted field research in the temperate rainforest ecosystem. Jim has written numerous scientific and popular articles and several books on his work. Since 1997, Maui has been the base of his study on the function of the humpback whale song. His primary studies include long-term investigations of behavior and ecology of gray whales in British Columbia and humpback whales throughout the North Pacific - the latter arising from his PhD studies on humpback whales in Maui in the 70s and 80s.

The Hawaiian Breeding Grounds: An overview of Humpbacks around the Main Hawaiian Islands Dr. Meagan Jones has been leading marine research and education programs in Hawaii for thirty years. Her commitment to bridging marine science with education and conservation programs around whales and their natural environment led to the founding of Whale Trust, where she has served as the Executive Director since its founding in 2001. Meagan is currently an Assistant Professor in the Sustainable Science Management BAS program at University of Hawaii Maui College (UHMC), where she teaches various marine biology and sustainability science courses focused on natural resource management. Meagan’s research focuses primarily on the reproductive strategies of female humpbacks on the Hawaiian breeding grounds.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS HUMPBACK WHALE NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY

Beyond Maui: Humpback Whale Presence Across the Hawaiian Archipelago

Dr. Marc Lammers is the Research Ecologist for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. He is also the co-founder and President of Oceanwide Science Institute, a Hawaii-based non-profit organization involved in marine research globally, and is an affiliate faculty member with the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology. Marc specializes in marine bioacoustics, cetacean behavior and ecology, and marine ecosystem acoustic monitoring. He is an active collaborator with many researchers in Hawaii and around the world, and is a mentor to several graduate students. He has worked on projects globally that have been focused on a variety of research topics and marine organisms, including dolphins, whales, coral reefs, fish and turtles.

Whales, Otters, and Photographing Science

Ralph is a freelance underwater and environmental photojournalist living in Monterey, California. During the winter months, Ralph works on Maui with Whale Trust documenting humpback whale research alongside Flip Nicklin. Ralph has worked with The Washington Post, The Nature Conservancy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Waitt Institute, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Sea Turtle Conservancy, Parque National Tortuguero, Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research (P.I.E.R), Medical Missionaries, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, Sportfishing Association of California, and Golf Range magazine. Ralph’s work has been published by National Geographic, National Geographic Explorer, Nature, Smithsonian, GEO, Discover, Science et Vie Junior, Sport Diver, National Wildlife, Sportfishing Magazine, Weather Channel, and others.

Balancing the Banca

Jom is the founder and Principal Investigator of a non-profit organization called BALYENA. ORG with a mission to support the conservation of whales and dolphins and their natural habitats in the Philippines through research, education, and capacity-building. Jom began her career in research and marine conservation at WWF-Philippines as the Project Leader of the Cetacean Research and Conservation Project in 2000. It was under WWF-Philippines that she started to study humpback whales in the Babuyan Marine Corridor in the Philippines. After leaving WWF, she continued this research by establishing BALYENA.ORG which is currently the longest-running, continuous cetacean research in the Philippines. Her current projects include “Conservation of the Babuyan Marine Corridor: the only breeding ground of humpback whales in the Philippines” and “In Search of Bughaw, the lone blue whale in the Bohol Sea, Philippines.”