Humpback whales are bellwethers for the health of our oceans, and thus, their protection and the conservation of their marine habitat is of paramount importance. The Humpback Whale Fund supports the UH Hilo Marine Mammal Laboratory’s study of humpback whale behavioral ecology in Hawai‘i (the major calving and mating grounds for North Pacific humpback whales) and Alaska (the whales’ main feeding grounds), and it enables the lab to communicate its findings broadly, educating people of all ages about the importance of this island treasure.
Aboard research vessels, the lab’s faculty and students use state-of-the-art equipment and techniques to document the life histories of individually-identified humpback whales and investigate their reproductive health, behavior, song, communication systems, hearing capabilities, migratory patterns and habitat use.
Your help to support the lab’s groundbreaking discoveries can range from:
- $50 for a 128GB SD card for its digital cameras
- $75 for each analysis of a biopsy sample to study humpback whale health
- $200 for fuel for a day’s boat research survey
- $400 for a new GoPro camera to document the underwater behavior of the whales
- $4,500 for a long-term acoustic recorder to document the seasonal and diurnal patterns of humpback whale singing in Hilo Bay
To learn more about the lab and view documentary films of its work, please see https://hilo.hawaii.edu/faculty/adam-a-pack/marine-mammal-lab/.
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