2022: A YEAR OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Research activities conducted under appropriate research permits and following animal ethics approval. The drone operator holds a license certified by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (Australia) or the Federal Aviation Authority (USA)

PWF conducts applied research throughout the Pacific Ocean which directly supports conservation and management initiatives. Since 1980, PWF researchers have published over 100 peer-reviewed publications, reports, and books that have been used to advance our knowledge on cetacean ecology and inform better management of species.

Our headquarters are located on Maui, Hawai‘i with established satellite offices in East Australia and Ecuador and funded research projects in Chile and Japan.

This year, we focused on growth and building capacity for the future. We added five new staff positions, bringing us to 13 full-time employees in Hawai‘i, Australia, and Ecuador, and we are delighted to have welcomed Dr. Barbara Galletti from Chile as an affiliated researcher.

Additional goals met include the following:

• Committed 20 survey days to study whales and dolphins on the windward side of Maui. This was one of the first dedicated survey efforts for windward waters in Maui Nui and we were able to successfully survey areas spanning from north of Moloka’i to Hana, east Maui.

• Completed the second season of CATs tag deployments in collaboration with the Marine Mammal Research Program, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. During this year’s field effort, we were able to field test new deep-rated CATs tags that were developed specifically for PWF and MMRP for deep-diving dolphins.

• Expanded research in Ecuador to include common bottlenose dolphins inhabiting the central and northern coast in Ecuador. Little is known about the populations here and we have found that it is highly likely that human activity is impacting them.
• Expanded scope in Australia and completed pilot surveys to estimate the abundance of commonly encountered dolphin species in Hervey Bay using distance sampling techniques. Although Australian humpback dolphins and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins are regularly encountered in Hervey Bay, no abundance estimates or description of their distribution and habitat use has been published, making our research here even more critical.
• Concluded field work in collaboration with Martin van Aswegen and Dr. Lars Bejder (Marine Mammal Research Program, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa) and Dr. Adam Pack (University of Hawai‘i at Hilo) to collect a comprehensive suite of morphometric and health data on individual humpback whales.
• Provided drone support for an entangled whale that was freed of all gear by responders from the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary (HIHWNMS) entanglement response team.
• Began collecting data for a new five-year project assessing the health and status of humpback whales in Hervey Bay, Australia. Previous studies have been conducted in the calving grounds, primarily on calves that are less than two months old, whereas calves in the Hervey Bay area are closer to two to three months old. This work will fill some gaps in understanding of humpback whale growth and development in their first year of life.
• Worked with and contributed research to our partners at NOAA, DLNR and the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary to develop new vessel speed guidelines included in the Go Slow – Whales Below recommendations
• Published three peer-reviewed journal articles
• Attended national and international conferences, presenting PWF research and making an impact in policy decisions: The 24th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals and Reunião de Trabalho de Especialistas em Mamíferos Aquáticos da América do Sul e 13º Congresso da Sociedade Latino-Americana de Mamíferos Aquáticos
• Continued work on our Global Impact Plan, in which we focus our research efforts on studying five major threats to cetaceans: bycatch, vessel collisions with marine animals, marine plastic pollution, unsustainable tourism and climate change. To learn more about research efforts on these threats and more, view our 2022 Research Report.

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