■ It’s whale-watching season in Hawaii again. Hawaii’s visiting humpback whales will soon encounter daily numbers of curious researchers, photographers, divers, boaters, tourists, aircraft and other whale enthusiasts. As in past years, the National Marine Fisheries Service will make every effort to protect the whales on their annual visit to Hawaii.
Humpback whales, Hawaii’s official state marine mammal, migrate to local waters from the north Pacific to mate, give birth and nurse their young. They congregate in Hawaii’s waters between December and May. This year, researchers will again be collecting reproductive data, photographing individual animals for identification purposes and obtaining behavioral information so that we can better understand the impacts of human activities on humpback whales.
Much publicity was generated by Humphrey, the wayward whale in California, and the possibility…