itana's blog

Aloha kakou!

I just returned from the 19th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals held in Tampa, Florida from Nov 27th to Dec 2; 2000 attendees, 332 oral presentations, 12 speed talks, and 600 posters. This international conference is held every two years and gathers marine mammal scientists and students from around the world. The goal of this conference is to enhance collaboration, share ideas, and improve the quality of research on marine mammals.

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Ciao Nico, Nic, Aurora and Chicca. Our first wave of international research interns and M.Sc. students left us last week to return to their home countries. Pacific Whale Foundation was certainly blessed to have such a fantastic and talented group of young professionals working for us. They assisted and lead many projects, including research on: turtles, spinner dolphins, shore-based surveys of Humpback Whales, whale diseases, and more. Good luck guys and gals! We hope to collaborate more in the future.

Daniela, Rob, and Itana

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Today was a perfect day in Maui Nui! Clear skies, no wind, calm waters, and we tried out our “Rapid Response Plan ” (RRP) protocol. RRP is designed to utilize the availability of PWF skiff docked in Ma’alaea Harbor to conduct non-invasive research by collecting opportunistic data on false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncates). The goal for the Researchers is to be out the door and on the sea to quickly intercept the study species, should they come close to Ma’alaea.

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The whale watch trip on Tuesday morning was a very special one; it was a gorgeous day to be out on the water, we were on board of our new raft (Ocean Freedom) for Ultimate Whale Watch, and we had a very close encounter with false killer whales!

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