A Season to Remember: Maui 2026 Field Observations
- Lewis Evans
- 2 hours ago
- 10 min read
Written by: Aitana Romero Vaernewyck, Emily Foote, Andy Klein, and Lewis Evans
Each winter, the waters of Maui Nui become a hub of activity as humpback whales return to their breeding grounds. For our team at the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), this marks the start of an intensive field season focused on understanding whale behavior, physiology, and health. Specifically, our project aims to understand the drivers of humpback whale physiological and behavioral responses to anthropogenic and environmental stressors and forecast future population trajectories. Now in our eighth consecutive season, this work contributes to a growing long-term dataset, enabling us to track changes in body condition, reproductive output, and behavior across years. Our humpback whale research program is part of a strategic partnership with the Alaska Whale Foundation.
The season brought a mix of ideal conditions and unexpected challenges, as well as exciting advances in how we study these animals. Below, our team shares insights, highlights, and experiences from the 2026 Maui humpback whale field season.
Our Season in Numbers
From 48 days on the water, we collected more than 1,500 drone-based body condition measurements from humpback whales, alongside 754 fluke IDs, 51 biopsy samples, and 24 biologging tag deployments.
Drone-based photogrammetry is central to our work, allowing us to track individual health across the breeding season and over multiple years. Over the field season, we conducted 602 flights totaling approximately 120 hours of flight time and collected more than 1,500 body condition measurements.
Among these were many familiar individuals from previous seasons in Hawai‘i and Alaska. Seeing these whales again – sometimes years later – brings the value of long-term research into sharp focus. One example is Arpeggio, a whale we have now measured 21 times between 2019 and 2026 in both Hawaii and Alaska. Apeggio is one of many individuals for whom we are building detailed life history profiles.
Advancing Our Toolkit
Building on our drone-based monitoring, we also expanded our tagging efforts. This February, we welcomed MMRP’s tag team (Lars Bejder, William Gough, and Gussie Hollers) for two weeks of fieldwork focused on deploying Customized Animal Tracking Solutions (CATS) tags on humpback whales. These non-invasive suction-cup tags allow us to record fine-scale movement and behavior, forming a key part of Lewis Evans’ PhD research on the energetic expenditure of male humpback whales on the Maui breeding grounds.
One of the most exciting developments this season was learning to deploy tags using drones, following training from Julian Dale (O3ST Limited). Watching this technique come together in real time was incredible, from tracking each breath on the live feed to lining up the tag and timing the drop as the whale surfaced. Not only does this approach reduce the need for close vessel approaches, but it also allows us to be far more selective in who we tag, targeting whales with specific behavioral roles such as primary escorts, secondary escorts, males in competitive groups, and even singers. This level of precision creates new opportunities to understand how different mating strategies shape energy use. By the end of the season, we had successfully deployed 24 tags using this method. Watch this space as we will be publishing a blog shortly, specifically focusing on our drone-tagging efforts.
In parallel, we collaborated with Dr. Angelo Torrente (Institute of Functional Genomics, University of Montpellier) and Dr. Andreas Fahlman (Fundación Oceanográfica, Valencia, Spain) to deploy modified heart-rate tags. A more detailed look at these tagging efforts will be featured in an upcoming MMRP blog - be on the lookout!
A compilation of moments from our tagging effort this season, capturing the process from approach to deployment.
Finally, we collected 51 biological samples (blubber and skin biopsies) from humpback whale mothers to better understand postpartum ovulation and reproductive timing. This work, led by our colleague Dr. Nicola Ransome, is helping us get a clearer picture of how quickly females can become pregnant again after giving birth, an important piece of the puzzle in understanding how humpback whale populations recover from disturbance. This project represents a continued collaboration with Kristi West and Jana Phipps from the Health and Stranding Lab, as well as Logan Pallin from the Friedlaender Lab.
Challenges on the Water
This season brought a wide range of weather conditions that shaped our time on the water. January was mostly sunny with minimal wind, giving us one of our strongest starts to a field season. We were able to get out frequently and encountered a surprising number of mother-calf pairs for so early in the season. February was more variable, with shifting winds occasionally keeping us off the water for several days at a time.
March brought the biggest challenges. A series of back-to-back Kona low storms delivered nearly 130 cm of rain to Maui, causing severe flooding and even sinkholes along the road to Maʻalaea Harbor. Kona lows are subtropical storm systems that bring warm, moisture-rich air from the south, often resulting in prolonged heavy rain and unstable conditions.
These storms had far greater impacts beyond our fieldwork, with many communities across Hawai‘i experiencing flooding, displacement, and damage to homes and infrastructure. The impacts of these storms on our fieldwork were minor in comparison to the significant challenges faced by many communities across Hawai‘i.
Because drones are central to our work, this weather significantly limited field operations. Rain prevents drone flights entirely, while strong winds, whitecaps, and swell can reduce image quality and make body condition measurements unreliable. As a result, we were grounded for more than half of March.
On the bright side, the unexpected downtime allowed us to get a head start on our new data processing system. By the end of the field season, we had refined the updated protocol and extracted body condition images for every whale through mid-February, a task that usually takes months after the season ends. All things considered, we made the most of it.
Memorable or rewarding moments
A particularly memorable moment as an intern was learning how to track and retrieve a CATS biologging tag after it had detached from a whale. These tags are expensive and contain valuable data, making it critical that we recover them before they drift out of the Maui Nui Channels.
(left to right): interns Emily Foote (left) and Aitana Romero Vaernewyck (right) after successfully tracking down their first CATs tag in the Maui Nui Channels! These biologging tags are recovered using VHF and satellite telemetry once they detach and float to the surface of the water; Cameron (left) teaching interns Andy Klein (holding tag) and Emily Foote (right) how to set up CATS tags for deployment. Group picture before deployment!
January 26th was a particularly exciting day, as it marked Cameron’s first time collecting a body condition measurement of a humpback whale using a drone! To make the moment even more memorable, his first “BC” (as we call it) was of an adorable calf that swam over to celebrate with us.
Cameron, beside a humpback whale calf (pictured underwater on the right), after collecting his first-ever body condition measurement, there will be many more to come!
With the early end to our field season, the team spent time together on O’ahu, visiting the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology and the MMRP laboratory in person. This was incredibly special for interns Andy Klein and Emily Foote, who have been interning remotely for quite some time!
Left to right: interns Emily Foote (right) and Andy Klein (left), ecstatic to be visiting MMRP!; (left to right) Lewis, Andy and Emily and Cameron exploring O’ahu together.
Unforgettable Encounters
Field work is life-changing in many ways. We work hard together, learn amazing methods of data collection, and grow in many ways as scientists and members of a team. Beyond this, nothing compares to the feeling of seeing your study species in the wild – to observe wildlife interactions and behavior you have only read about before. This season we had many wildlife moments that will stick with us for life!
In mid-March, a collaboration with another research team from HIMB brought us in closer to Molokini than our normal efforts usually take us. As we admired the clear waters around us and watched schools of fish flashing below the surface, we heard a chorus of blows that could only mean one thing – a competition group! This group ended up being the largest of the season, with 17 males escorting one female!
On average, most competition groups we see vary from 4-10 whales that eventually break down to a dyad (the primary escort and the nuclear animal, or female). We were able to collect photo-identification of flukes, UAS footage for aerial ID and body condition measurements, and behavioral observations for this group while admiring a show of tail slaps, pectoral fin slaps, and bubble blasting that will not soon be forgotten!
One of the most wondrous behaviors that occurs on the breeding ground is the humpback whale song. Though it is not known for certain, song is thought to be a breeding behavior to either attract females, establish presence to other males, or display fitness as a potential mate. These melancholy songs reverberate throughout the sea and can even be heard from above water. Underwater, humpback whale songs have been observed to respond to acoustic signals from 200 km (nearly 125 miles!) away. These songs evolve season to season, and, incredibly, share themes across breeding grounds, possibly from transmission at shared feeding grounds. We encountered many singers this season, with some individuals’ songs lasting up to 15 minutes.
In another unforgettable encounter just outside of Ma’alaea Harbor, a humpback whale calf was playing at the surface when a small pod of bottlenose dolphins passed by with a calf of their own. While the humpback mother rested below the surface, the two young animals began swimming and socializing together. Noticing the interaction, the humpback mother rose to the surface and positioned herself between her calf and the dolphin calf. Later, when the dolphin calf approached again, its mother quickly guided it away – just as the humpback mother extended her pectoral fin toward the dolphin pod, a clear display of protective behavior. It was incredible to witness such a playful interspecies interaction, but it was even more striking to see the same powerful maternal instinct and protection expressed in two entirely different species.
Reflections on the Season:
Despite the challenges this season brought, including the damaging storms that passed through in March and brought our fieldwork to an early close, it was an incredibly successful field effort. From collecting one of our most comprehensive drone-based datasets to advancing drone-based tagging and continuing long-term collaborations, this year pushed both our methods and our understanding forward. Most importantly, it added another valuable year to a growing long-term dataset that is helping us better understand humpback whale health, behavior, and population dynamics over time.
We are grateful that our field team remained safe, and our thoughts are with the many community members whose lives were impacted by the floods. We are also incredibly thankful for the team, collaborators, and broader community who made this season possible, and we look forward to building on this work in the years to come.
Enjoy some of our favorite shots from the season. Thanks for reading!
Acknowledgements:
We want to acknowledge the significance of koholā (humpback whale) within Hawaiian culture as manifestations of Kanaloa. We use minimally invasive techniques and undergo a rigorous permitting process to interact with whales. We are very grateful to be able to study them and contribute to their conservation and protection.
We would like to extend a special mahalo to the Pacific Whale Foundation for their continued and generous support of this project. Their assistance was instrumental in running additional field days on our behalf and providing unwavering support throughout. This season would not have been as successful without their dedication. Thank you, Jens Currie, Grace Olson, and Brian Stirling
We are grateful for the cooperative nature and support from the Maui community. Tour companies, Pac Whale eco-tours, Ocean Adventures Maui, Maui Pacific Divers and Sail Maui directed us to humpbacks, facilitating our research. A big mahalo to other research groups for their cooperation and dedication to humpback whale research, such as Whale Trust, Keiki Koholā Project, and the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.
This project was made possible through the efforts of many passionate and hardworking individuals. We are deeply grateful to the following people for their time, cooperation, logistical support, and generosity: Liah McPherson, Paul Schofield, Karen Harper, Max Sudnovsky, Paolo Marra-Biggs, Steph Vlachos, Guinevere Noble, Robert Abrew, Jonny Pinder, Ed Lyman, Marc Lammers, Maria Harvey, Stephanie Stack, Elizabeth Beato, Jessa Price, Sandee (Makoa car rental), Kimberly Jefferies, Greg Schorr, Erin Falcone, and Claire Lacey.
We are extremely grateful for our funders, whose support truly makes this work possible. Their contributions allow us to get out on the water and collect the critical scientific data that managers rely on to keep humpback whales protected at local, national, and international levels. This support also helps us learn more about these incredible animals every season — how they behave, how they change over time, and how they respond to our shifting oceans. Just as importantly, it allows us to share what we learn with our community, from creating outreach materials for schools to engaging with people who are just as excited about whales as we are. This season, we are particularly grateful for the support from the US Navy’s Living Marine Resources (LMR) program, the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and DoD’s Defense University Research Instrumentation Program, Dolphin Quest (DQ). We are grateful to philanthropic donations made by JP and Dalia Maheu, Benjy Garfinkle, Kristin and Larry Link, and Paul and Elle Stephens. Our field season would not have been possible without your support.
All research was conducted under NMFS permit #27548 and with IACUC approval.
If you would like to read more about previous seasons and watch cool videos from the field, please visit the following blogs!
2205 season recap: Looking Back on Maui 2025: A Winter Full of Whales
2024 season recap: Island hopping: a three-month field season off Hawai’i Island
2023 season recap: Maui 2023 humpback whale field season review
2022 season recap: 2022 Maui Fieldwork Update: good weather, lots of whales and a few surprise disentanglements!
If you’d like to support our research, please click the blue button below — any donation, big or small, makes a meaningful difference in helping us protect these incredible animals. Mahalo for being part of this work!
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