Written by Claire Lacey We would like to share a newly published paper: Circum-Island Line-Transect Abundance Estimates of Spinner Dolphins Around O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. Authors:  Claire Lacey, Marie C. Hill, Amanda L. Bradford, Erin M. Oleson, Fabien Vivier, Aude F. Pacini, Philip S. Hammond, Lars Bejder. Marine Mammal Science, 2025; 0:e70055   https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.70055 Available to read     Spinner dolphin spinning – © Deb Besser, taken under permit #21476   Spinner dolphi

Written by Claire Lacey . If you’ve never come across it, the idea of “Plastic Free July” originated in Western Australia in 2011 as an initiative of the Plastic Free Foundation. It was created as a challenge encouraging individuals to reduce the use of plastics during the month of July. This year participants can sign up and pledge to either avoid single-use plastic packaging, try and reduce their use of takeaway items (plastic bottles, take-away cups and so on), or go compl

Written by Fabien Vivier We are pleased to announce a new publication in Ecology and Evolution entitled: Quantifying the age-structure of free-ranging delphinid populations: testing the accuracy of Unoccupied Aerial System-photogrammetry. Video created by Anna Schmalz: https://www.mmrphawaii.org/interns Vivier, F ., Wells, R. S., Hill, M. C., Yano, K. M., Bradford, A. L., Leunissen, E. M., Pacini, A. , Booth, C. G., Rocho-Levine, J., Currie , J. J., Patton, P. T., & Bejder

Written by Ashley Marxsen Intern Ashley Marxsen, photographing pilot whales off of the Kona coast, Hawaiʻi Island. Photos taken under...

Written by Claire Lacey There have been some big milestones over the last month or so, here at "spinner dolphin HQ"! Spinner dolphin, photographed by Claire Lacey under NOAA Research permit 21476 For the past year or so, we've been conducting line transect surveys around the entire coastline of Oʻahu, collecting data that will be used to estimate how many spinner dolphins use these waters (see our project pages , and previous blogs: Counting dolphins and spinner dolphins o

By Claire Lacey Standing on the beautiful beaches of O`ahu, you could easily be forgiven for thinking the ocean is pristine. The crystal clear waters go literally as far as the eye can see, and the blue is a particular color that I’ve never seen anywhere else – even after many years working at sea. Before long though, you start to notice the tell-tale signs of human habitation floating on top of the water. Drinks bottles… beach shoes… balloons…. pool noodles... all the usual

Written by Fabien Vivier In September 2021, we conducted boat-based surveys off the Kona coastline in search of spinner dolphins ( Stenella longirostris ). This field effort was part of my PhD thesis research focusing on quantifying the age structuration (proportion of calves, juveniles, and adults) of the spinner dolphin population off the Kona coastline. Please click on the following hyperlinks if you would like to know more about my work and previous blog s. During the f

Written by Claire Lacey This work is a collaboration with NOAA / PIFSC Regular readers may remember from a previous blog post - Counting dolphins - that this summer has seen the spinner team at MMRP get underway with the line transect surveys for dolphins around O`ahu. During the past few months, our time has been split between the leeward (west) and windward (east) coasts of the island. These two areas are very different, so its' been interesting to see the differences

Written by Liah McPherson Well, the first semester of my master’s degree was fairly routine: taking classes, reading papers, and getting together all the bits and pieces necessary to begin my research in January. But less than a week into 2021, I was out on the water, bouncing around in an XL north swell, trying to find spinner dolphins during my first winter field effort. Since then, I’ve been to Maui (twice) to help Martin out with his PhD work on humpback whales (and lea

Written by Claire Lacey Exciting times here at “spinner dolphin project HQ”, as we make final preparations to get our dolphin surveys underway. These trips are a collaboration with NOAA / PIFSC and will be running until the end of the year or so, as we collect the data we need to get an estimate of how many spinner dolphins use the coastal waters around Oʻahu. There are a few different ways to count animals, and very often it is not as easy as it initially appears. The most

Written by Claire Lacey In the early days of the pandemic, I wrote a blog entry for the UK Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management in which I compared lockdown (as Stay-at Home orders are called back home) to being on a ship. My tongue-in-cheek conclusion was that it was similar – only with pets, better internet access and a reduced risk of seasickness. I wrote that blog in early April 2020, back when we thought restrictions would only be for a few weeks,

Written by Liah McPherson Studying dolphins has always been my life’s goal. Truly, I cannot remember a time in my life when I wasn’t fascinated by these animals (my parents have saved many anatomically pathetic drawings of dolphins from my early childhood). So in April, when I found out I was accepted to the Marine Biology Graduate Program at UH Manoa set to work with the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP) –– to say I was overjoyed would be an understatement! After mo

Written by Lars Bejder We are pleased to announce the following publication by Dr Carlie Wiener and co-authors in Frontiers in Marine...