Big Island Volunteers Spot 37 Humpback Whales in Final 2026 Season Count

The whale season that keeps Kona Harbor's tour boats booked through winter officially closed on March 28, when Sanctuary Ocean Count volunteers tallied 37 koholā from Hawaiʻi Island shorelines on the final coordinated count day of 2026.

Those 37 sightings placed Hawaiʻi Island third among five island tallies that day. Combined with observers on Kauaʻi (169 whales), Oʻahu (77), Maui (141), and Lānaʻi (11), the 310 volunteers who spread across 37 shore-based sites statewide recorded 435 humpbacks in total. The effort divided between the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count, which covered the Big Island alongside Kauaʻi and Oʻahu, and Pacific Whale Foundation's Great Whale Count, which deployed site leaders at 12 positions along Maui's shoreline and one site on Lānaʻi.

That 435-whale statewide total was 279 below the March 2025 coordinated count, a decline that comes with a significant caveat. Moderate to strong winds and whitecaps on March 28 reduced visibility at many sites and forced the cancellation of some observation points entirely. Researchers caution that counts shift with observer coverage, conditions, and the probability of duplicate sightings, where the same animal is tallied by different observers at different positions or times during the same survey day.

The timing carries weight on the Kona waterfront. Inshore humpback watching is the primary winter draw for charter operators along the Kona Coast, where outfitters including Hawaiian Adventures dedicate their December-through-March schedule to the animals' nearshore breeding and calving season. By late March, as the final count closes and adults with newborn calves begin filtering north toward Alaskan feeding grounds, the harbor bookings that humpback season generates begin to follow.

Both counting programs reach landmark anniversaries in 2026. The Sanctuary Ocean Count, backed by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, marks 30 consecutive years of shore-based data collection this season. Pacific Whale Foundation, which organizes the Great Whale Count, celebrates 45 years of research, education, and conservation. The Great Whale Count is described as one of the world's longest-running community science projects for humpbacks, with counts conducted three times each season on the last Saturday of January, February, and March.

Volunteers scanning the water on March 28 documented more than whales. Observers reported honu (green sea turtles), ʻilioholoikauaua (Hawaiian monk seals), naiʻa (spinner dolphins), and mālolo (flying fish), along with five bird species: koaʻe ʻula (red-tailed tropicbird), koaʻe kea (white-tailed tropicbird), ʻiwa (great frigatebird), ʻā (brown booby), and nēnē (Hawaiian goose).

WATCHING RESPONSIBLY: RULES FOR THE WATER

With humpbacks still present in Hawaiian waters through late spring, this section is worth forwarding to any visitors heading out on the water. Federal law prohibits any vessel, kayak, standup paddleboard, drone, or person in the water from approaching a humpback whale within 100 yards (90 meters). Aircraft must maintain at least 1,000 feet of altitude above the animals. Both rules apply year-round throughout Hawaiian waters and extend 200 nautical miles offshore. Violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act carry civil penalties up to $12,000 per incident.

To report a violation, a stranded whale, or an entangled animal, call the NOAA Fisheries Enforcement Hotline at 1-800-853-1964. Preliminary site-level data from the Sanctuary Ocean Count are available on the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary website, and Pacific Whale Foundation's Great Whale Count results are posted at the foundation's site.