Whales, Dolphins, and Seabirds in the Hawaiian Archipelago
A photo gallery of the Hawaiian Islands Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey in 2023.
The fourth Hawaiian Islands Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey (HICEAS) will search the the entire Hawaiian Islands Archipelago for dolphins, whales, and seabirds aboard NOAA Ships Oscar Elton Sette and Reuben Lasker from July to December 2023.
Here are images from the project shown in the HICEAS 2023 Photo Tour.
Let's go! A false killer whale seen in Hawaiian waters. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Paula Olson (Permit #20311)
The HICEAS team sets up the flying bridge big eye binocular stations on NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette before getting under...
Ship delay means team-building ashore, including a birthday celebration for Yin! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Suzanne Yin
While waiting to get underway, our staff is busy with Science Center tasks like repairing and cleaning field equipment f...
This morning, our staff unspooled the acoustic array and carefully laid it on the back deck to examine a potential twist...
Still stuck ashore, our team sorted field camp buckets by lid color (each color represents an island of the Papahānaumok...
This year, each Drifting Acoustic Spar Buoy Recorder (DASBR) will be connected to a Satlink buoy that will continuously ...
The team explored Moku o Loʻe (Coconut Island) with a guided tour by colleague Lars Bejder from the University of Hawaii...
Part of the team played volleyball at a local high school gym over the weekend to keep active ahead of the survey. Credi...
NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette finally leaves the pier and the team is beaming with joy. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Amanda Brad...
Sighting 3 of our adventure, pilot whales! While we experienced rough seas, they hid behind the waves until their playfu...
Observer, Juan Carlos Salinas, collects flying fish samples for a statewide diet study. Flying fish are critical links i...
Exciting start to Leg 2 of HICEAS! Rough-toothed dolphins seen riding the ship's bow waves while scientist Marie Hill ge...
Don't you hate it when you're caught blinking in a photo? This rough-toothed dolphin doesn't seem to mind. Credit: NOAA ...
Left: A close-encounter of bottlenose dolphins gives the science team a great opportunity to count and photograph this s...
Pilot whales came to visit the ship on two different occasions. An adult pilot whale is accompanied by a calf swimming t...
A red-tailed tropic bird flies gracefully near the ship. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Ernesto Vazquez (Permit #MB033305)
Acoustician Alexa Gonzalez carries the Drifting Acoustic Spar Buoy Recorder (DASBR) float and satellite signal buoy and ...
Scientists Jessica Perelman and Andrea Schmidt prepare the CTD that will deployed with the DASBR. Credit: NOAA Fisheries...
The DASBR is deployed by acousticians Alexa Gonzalez, Jennifer McCullough, and Erik Norris. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Suzan...
Top left: Scientist Jessica Perelman holds up a petri dish with fish larvae collected from one of the night-time net tow...
A whale shark herds a fish bait ball while being followed by a remora. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Michael Force
Calm seas and light winds made for perfect conditions to spot this pygmy whale logging on the surface of the water. The ...
A red-footed booby swoops down to catch a flying fish just above the surface of the water. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Ernest...
Marine debris can be found in the most remote places of the ocean where it moves through the water by wind and currents....
These two flounder larvae are not usual visitors to the plankton net, which makes them all the more exciting to find! Cr...
Sometimes, marine debris is used by wildlife in unexpected ways, like how these two sooty terns are using this strip of...
Striped dolphins, affectionately called Streakers by visual observers, can be identified by a dark stripe that runs from...
A kо̄lea, or Pacific golden plover, is seen flying near the ship with its golden-spangled plumage shimmering in the sunl...
While visual observers are outside searching for sperm whales at the surface, the acoustics team is busy at their comput...
On August 19, we crossed the International Date Line! While it's an imaginary line, it roughly follows the 180th meridia...
This juvenile mahimahi caught the team by surprise during a nightly net tow. Prior to this, the net tows in offshore wat...
Fraser's dolphins are found in deep tropical waters, however, they have not been frequently sighted or acoustically dete...
The Laysan albatross is primarily found in the North Pacific Ocean and spends most of its life at sea. They only return ...
Pihemanu means "The Terns" in the Hawaiian, referring to the numerous tern species that inhabit the atoll. Pihemanu is p...
Scientist Erik Norris prepares the transducer, a type of sensor, that will trigger the release of the High-frequency Rec...
A juvenile brown booby (left) and a juvenile red booby (right) float with the HARP before it’s retrieved.Credit: NOAA Fi...
The HARP can weigh up to 600 pounds, so a crane is used to bring it back on deck! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Suzanne Yin, Mi...
Gail Tang, Marie Hill, and Suzanne Yin are happy to have the HARP successfully on board. The acoustic data will be analy...
A 'Magical Sighting' is when the sighting number matches the species code, a unique number assigned to a species. For ce...
Photo 1: A false killer whale attacks a mahimahi seeking refuge under a bucket lid. Mahimahi are a common fish false kil...
The mahimahi's colors usually include bright shades of blues, greens, and yellows, but when under stress like pictured h...
A flying fish's enlarged pectoral fins and powerful tails provide the speed and power it needs to leap out of the water ...
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