Whales
The story of the Humpback Whales is a success story. In 1966 after heavy
exploitation Northern Pacific Humpbacks were estimated at 1,400. The
current estimate is approx. 20,000. The Humpbacks that winter in the
Hawaiian Islands migrate seasonally from Alaska, a 3600 mile trip that
they complete in as few as 36 days. Feeding takes place in Alaska and mating and birthing happens in Hawaii.
The male Humpbacks sing complex songs that can last up to 20 mins and can be heard 20 miles away. Although the singers have been found to be male it has not been proven that this has to do with mating behavior. The jury is still out on that one. All singers sing the same song each season until its changes the next season. It has been suggested that the last note of last seasons song is the first note of the next seasons song. Whaling of Humpbacks has been prohibited since 1966 and in 1973 they were listed under the Endangered Species Act, ESA, although there is incidental take allowed by NMFS and recommendations to take them off ESA from some interested parties. (Denmark has proposed taking ten Humpbacks per year while the Japanese Fisheries would like to open up Humpbacks for harvesting once more) for more info: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans.humpback.whale.htm HDF is planning a Humpback ID, research and photography trip to Tahiti in Sept. This will be available to a limited number of interested people Turtles - Honu
The most common turtles in Hawaiian waters are Green and Hawksbill Turtles. They have been on this planet some 150 million years and in 2005 the number of nesting Green Turtles was approx 548. They are on the endangered species list. Threats to their habitat include encroachment and development of their traditional nesting areas,incidental capture in fishing nets and gear and toxicity of water environment from run-off and the Fibropapilloma disease that has been seen on these turtles in the last few years. The turtle on the right had an eight pound tumour successfully extracted from its facial area. See below
The good news is that the incidence of these tumors seems to be decreasing slightly and some observations of tagged turtles have shown that a tumor can appear and disappear over time... |
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Turtle with fibropapillomatosis
This tumor turned out to be worse than it looked. Although it weighed almost eight pounds it had not invaded basic facial and neck structures. This turtle was flown to Oahu for the operation and then released back in Maui where it was captured.in November 2011 and has been sighted since.
