Conducting, Promoting, and Supporting Whale Research and Education in Maui, Hawai‘i
In this week’s Humpback Chronicles, Research Assistant Haley Robb joins Flip to share her story — from attending the Whale Trust keiki education program as a grade school student to Whale Trust’s Research Assistant beginning her PhD this year. Plus, Flip talks about a typical day on Whale Trust’s research boat with the team.
Send your questions to humpbacks@whaletrust.org!
Collaboration with whale experts around the world is one of the fundamental values of Whale Trust. In this week’s Humpback Chronicles, Flip, Jim, and Koji Nakamura share how those partnerships began even before Whale Trust was founded.
Send your questions to humpbacks@whaletrust.org!
In this week’s Humpback Chronicles, Flip talks about the years he spent away from Maui between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s working on projects for National Geographic. Flip shares the story behind his “dream assignment,” a feature in the centennial issue of National Geographic in December 1988, when he traveled around the world with Dr. Jim Darling looking at “whale research in other places.
Send your questions to humpbacks@whaletrust.org!
In this week’s Humpback Chronicles, Flip is joined by Dr. Meagan Jones to talk about Whale Trust’s work to better understand the role of female humpback whales on the Hawai’i breeding grounds.
send your questions to humpbacks@whaletrust.org!
In this week’s Humpback Chronicles, Flip responds to a question submitted by John K. who asks, “Are you using drones yet to do your research and if not why not?”
The Whale Trust research team uses drones, under permit, for humpback whale research. Drones provide us with a birds-eye-view to observe behavior that would otherwise be impossible to see at the water line, and to collect non-invasive measurements (e.g., relative size using photogrammetry techniques) and biological sample collection (respiratory droplets from a whale’s blow) for our hormone studies.
Whale Trust operates drones under research permit granted by NMFS. Because drones are now readily available to the public, we encourage private operators to familiarize themselves with current policies for drone use near marine life. Federal law requires aircraft to fly no lower than 1,000 feet above humpback whales in Hawaii. For more information, please visit NOAA Fisheries Marine Life Viewing Guidelines.
Send your questions to humpbacks@whaletrust.org!