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Hawaii humpback Hawaii's humpback whale population appears to be increasing.
whale count
marks a rise
A Pacific Whale Foundation
official says protection steps
taken appear to be workingTechnology could be used on subs
By Leila Fujimori
Star-Bulletin"Whatever we're doing here to protect whales appears to be working," Gregory Kaufman, founder and president of Pacific Whale Foundation, said after whale counts Saturday.
He cited the lack of oil drilling, little military activity on Maui and laws restricting vessels from approaching whales.
The Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary did simultaneous whale counts from 44 shoreline sites on three islands Saturday. The Pacific Whale Foundation conducted its own count on Maui.
More than 100 volunteers and researchers on Maui sighted 952 whales, 73 of them calves, between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. from a three-mile stretch of Maui's leeward shorelines. That is up from 643 whales seen last year, and 558 in 1999.
In 1998, there were 710 humpbacks sighted, and 750 were spotted in 1997.
More than 1,000 volunteers on the other three islands participated in the fifth year of the annual event.
With three-fourths of the count in, the following are the results of the count held between 9 a.m. and 12 noon: On Oahu, 196 humpbacks were seen from 37 sites, compared with 200 last year; Kauai volunteers spotted 158 whales from 12 sites; and Big Island participants saw 70 whales from 13 sites.
"Yearly comparisons of data help us to identify hot spots where whales seem to congregate as well as areas they seem to avoid," said Daniela Maldini, a marine biologist and researcher who is compiling and analyzing data for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.
If major changes occur, scientists can look for conditions affecting the whales' behavior, she said.
Whales appeared most active at the surface, with pectoral fin slaps, breaches, head lunges and peduncle throws between 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., according to the Pacific Whale Foundation's Maui findings.
About 9,000 humpback whales are thought to be in the North Pacific, with about 60 percent spending some of the winter months in Hawaii to mate, calve and nurse their young, according to the Pacific Whale Foundation.
Technology Technology used in counting whales from an airplane Saturday may one day help submarines detect vessels above them and prevent disasters like the recent collision between a submarine and a Japanese fishing training vessel.
could be applied for
use on subs
Hyperspectral imaging
might add an additional
sensor to a periscopeBy Leila Fujimori
Star-Bulletin"The technology could be used from underneath the water to look up equally as well as from above the water to look down," said Tim Sprowls, program manager for Science and Technology International.
Hyperspectral imaging detects small variations in color, which could provide an additional optical sensor to the periscope for subs, said Sprowls, a former Navy submarine officer.
"There's nothing like your eyeball to see something," he said. "I'm not saying we could have stopped the collision even if the equipment had been on board. But to have an additional sensor, it's worth investigating."
Sprowls said, "The presence of an object under water actually changes the color of the water in the ocean. We can't detect that change with our eye, but if you put that through a digital camera and send that information into a computer, that can process that information."
No lasers are used, so there is no danger to animals. The system uses passive daylight, which limits its capability.
Sprowls said the system would have no chance of detecting a submerged object like the Ehime Maru in waters of 2,000 feet.
It can, however, be used to find survivors on the surface.
Sprowls said his company had offered to help in the search for survivors of the Japanese vessel after the Feb. 9 accident with the USS Greeneville, but that the Coast Guard didn't think it needed help.
Science and Technology International uses hyperspectral imaging in classified U.S. Navy projects. In the past, it has located marine mammals, submarines and land mines from airplanes.
In detecting whales, the instrument is aligned over a viewing port, a hole on the bottom of the plane, at an altitude of 2,500 to 3,000 feet. An engineer sits in the plane with equipment that looks like a laptop computer.
About 24 humpback whales were counted from Haleiwa to Hauula Saturday using the remote sensing equipment two miles offshore.
It was the first time the company has participated in the annual whale count with the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.
The data will be analyzed within the next two weeks to ensure an accurate count.