From 2007 to 2026, volunteers at Lapakahi State Historical Park on Hawaiʻi Island’s Kohala coast averaged 8.98 humpback whales per 15-minute count period over 37 mornings. Volunteers at Ewa Beach Park on Oʻahu averaged 0.25 over 32 mornings; the site was last counted in 2020. Pooled across every Hawaiʻi Island site and all 59 counts with site tables, the average per site for each of the nine count periods ran from 2.3 in the 12:00 period to 3.35 in the 9:00 period.
The Sanctuary Ocean Count maps and results sheets from 2007 to 2026 list 70 count sites, on Hawaiʻi Island, Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, Molokaʻi and Kahoʻolawe. The site-by-site figures come from two sources: the sanctuary’s 2010 report, which prints each site’s average for each of the 27 counts of 2002 to 2010, as a whole number, and the site tables on the results sheets for the 59 counts from 2007 to 2026, which we typed in by hand where the sheet prints them as images.
The program publishes its own site map and takes registrations only at oceancount.org. We are an independent site, not part of NOAA or the program.
We haven’t visited any of the count sites yet. Hawaiʻi Island visits come first, and each visit will add the exact count spot, access and parking to that island’s page.
Sites by island
| Island | Sites | Counted in 2026 | With 2002–2010 report data | With 2007–2026 site data | Highest 2007–2026 average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaiʻi Island | 24 | 10 | 22 | 23 | Lapakahi State Historical Park (8.98) |
| Oʻahu | 26 | 10 | 25 | 26 | Shark's Cove (5.85) |
| Kauaʻi | 15 | 11 | 13 | 15 | KPNWR-Crater Hill (4.98) |
| Molokaʻi | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | – |
| Kahoʻolawe | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – |
What a site’s figure can and cannot tell you
Sites stand at very different heights. The program’s 2007 handbook lists Onekahakaha Beach Park in Hilo at 0 feet and Waipiʻo Valley lookout at 880 feet, and from a higher lookout volunteers can see farther out to sea. Weather changes the count too: for March 2026 the sanctuary wrote that Kona Low storms “may have contributed to reduced visibility from shore.” A site’s figure records what its volunteers saw on those mornings. It is no measure of how many whales live off that stretch of coast.
Whales per site by time of morning
On all three islands the last period of the count, starting at 12:00 noon, had the fewest whales per site: Hawaiʻi Island 2.3 at 12:00 against 3.35 at 9:00; Oʻahu 2.24 at 12:00 against 3.24 at 8:30; Kauaʻi 2.98 at 12:00 against 4.17 at 8:30. The count has nine 15-minute periods, one starting every half hour from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon. The program’s site-leader guide asks volunteers to meet at their site at 7:30 am.
| Period starts | Hawaiʻi Island | Oʻahu | Kauaʻi |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00 | 2.85 | 2.81 | 3.86 |
| 8:30 | 3.2 | 3.24 | 4.17 |
| 9:00 | 3.35 | 3.1 | 3.96 |
| 9:30 | 3.21 | 3.07 | 3.62 |
| 10:00 | 3.15 | 2.99 | 3.5 |
| 10:30 | 3.15 | 3.13 | 3.57 |
| 11:00 | 2.94 | 2.9 | 3.34 |
| 11:30 | 2.86 | 2.71 | 3.45 |
| 12:00 | 2.3 | 2.24 | 2.98 |
The morning curve differs by island and by count month. The noon scan is the lowest in every one of the nine panels below. On Kauaʻi the 8:30 scan is the highest in every month; on Hawaiʻi Island the January peak is at 9:00 with 4.38 whales per scan, and the March curve stays under 2 all morning.
| Island, month | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | 10:30 | 11:00 | 11:30 | 12:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaiʻi, Jan | 3.55 | 4.16 | 4.38 | 4.26 | 4.23 | 4.00 | 3.76 | 3.89 | 3.10 |
| Hawaiʻi, Feb | 3.61 | 3.91 | 4.00 | 3.95 | 3.87 | 4.12 | 3.66 | 3.51 | 2.85 |
| Hawaiʻi, Mar | 1.31 | 1.41 | 1.59 | 1.32 | 1.23 | 1.23 | 1.31 | 1.06 | 0.87 |
| Oʻahu, Jan | 2.93 | 3.49 | 3.19 | 3.08 | 3.20 | 3.51 | 3.11 | 2.77 | 2.58 |
| Oʻahu, Feb | 3.33 | 3.65 | 3.54 | 3.50 | 3.28 | 3.62 | 3.42 | 3.14 | 2.41 |
| Oʻahu, Mar | 2.12 | 2.53 | 2.56 | 2.62 | 2.46 | 2.22 | 2.15 | 2.18 | 1.70 |
| Kauaʻi, Jan | 5.23 | 5.50 | 5.42 | 4.96 | 4.71 | 5.00 | 4.59 | 4.46 | 4.30 |
| Kauaʻi, Feb | 3.90 | 4.21 | 4.01 | 3.74 | 3.70 | 3.58 | 3.40 | 3.80 | 2.94 |
| Kauaʻi, Mar | 2.40 | 2.75 | 2.36 | 2.08 | 2.00 | 2.03 | 1.92 | 2.00 | 1.60 |
Molokaʻi, Maui, Lānaʻi and Kahoʻolawe
Molokaʻi sites first appear on the results sheets in 2024, with 4 sites, and none is on an official map. Their site tables cover only the eight counts from January 2024 to February 2026, so Molokaʻi has no page of its own yet.
On Maui, and from 2024 on Lānaʻi, volunteers count the same morning in Pacific Whale Foundation’s Great Whale Count, a separate program; our Maui page has its published figures and site list. On Kahoʻolawe, the 2007 handbook lists one site, Lua Keālia Luna, counted by the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission; volunteers could not register for it. It last appears on a sheet in 2009.
Site coordinates on the island pages come from OpenStreetMap. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License.