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Whale Trust
Whale Trust was formed in 2001 to support field research on whales and their marine
environment. Its founders are passionate scientists and explorers who believe
that science—the quest for answers to the most intriguing questions about
our natural world—lies at the heart of environmental education and conservation.
But Whale Trust seeks to do more than fund groundbreaking field research on our
earth’s largest marine mammals. Results from Whale Trust’s field research
are the basis for a broader program of outreach and education that involve the
public, educators and a new generation of researchers whom Whale Trust hopes to
inspire.
Center for Whale Studies
Center for Whale Studies researchers, Deborah and Mark Ferrari, travel to Hawaii
to conduct an annual study begun in 1975. Their work documents the behavior of
humpbacks as mothers rest and rear their young, while males battle and challenge
each other for position in a complex social hierarchy.
Using only benign observational techniques, they take photographs, video, and
skin samples in the process of identifying humpbacks. By tracking known mothers
with newborn calves over successive years, they have found that humpback whales
are capable of producing their young at a high, one-year reproductive rate. Still
the number of humpback whales has not significantly increased, despite the fact
they have been protected from commercial whaling since 1966. The humpbacks are
indeed an endangered species.
Hawaii Whale Research Foundation
The Hawaii Whale Research Foundation is a small nonprofit group of dedicated volunteers
conducting field research on humpback whale social affiliation, behavior and communication
in the belief that if the needs of these magnificent animals are more fully understood
we may better offer recommendations that protect and preserve them. Five winter
months of data collection and photo-documentation in Hawaii are augmented by year-round
analysis, frequent scientific publications, public service seminars and educational
presentations.
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