The occurrence of humpback whales across the Hawaiian archipelago revealed by fixed and mobile acoustic monitoring

Nearly the entire Hawaiian archipelago, including remote atolls and seamounts within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM), is utilized by humpback whales during winter and early spring breeding seasons. This discovery challenges previous assumptions about whale distribution in the region. Researchers employed a combination of moored acoustic recorders and an autonomous Wave Glider to monitor whale song across 1500 km, revealing varying levels of song prevalence. Highest chorusing was detected off Maui and French Frigate Shoals, with notable patterns suggesting potential subpopulation structures or habitat preferences in PMNM. The study highlights the effectiveness of acoustic monitoring in remote, challenging environments to elucidate whale behavior and distribution.

Lammers, M. O., Goodwin, B., Kügler, A., Zang, E. J., Harvey, M., Margolina, T., Martinez, J. A., Merkens, K., & Hatch, L. T. (2023). The occurrence of humpback whales across the Hawaiian archipelago revealed by fixed and mobile acoustic monitoring. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1083583