The Hawaiian Islands Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey (HICEAS) is a recurring ship-based, line-transect survey designed to estimate cetacean abundance in the entirety of the Hawaiian EEZ.

The first phase to integrate the historical sum of these U.S. Navy-sponsored visual survey efforts for marine species monitoring in the HRC was prepared by Uyeyama (2011). This report represents the second phase of that effort and presents an overview of monitoring survey effort to date in the HRC. Available data from visual surveys performed by both contractor-led efforts and U.S. Navy in-house surveys was compiled and processed in order to: 1. Create a geographic information system (GIS)-based summation of all survey tracks that can be easily visualized. 2. Construct a geo-referenced database of sightings that can be queried by species, observer platform, Beaufort Sea State (BSS), season, or other sighting/survey variables. 3. Conduct an enhanced analysis of sighting success with respect to survey platform, field protocol, and environmental conditions. 4. Inform and adjust data collection procedures on future surveys as needed to reflect lessons learned from sighting data compilation efforts presented here. 5. Provide information to enhance informed management of marine protected species in the HRC and support the adaptive management process that is part of the ICM

Beaked whales (family Ziphiidae) consist of at least 21 different species in six genera with relatively little known about many of the species. Research on this family of odontocetes has increased in the last two decades as a result of a mass stranding event of beaked whales in the Bahamas in 2000 in association with a U.S. Navy training event. Results of this research have identified echolocation click characteristics for several species from different areas of the world based upon both tag data and passive acoustic monitoring data

This report documents Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific marine mammal monitoring efforts in fiscal year (FY) 2021 for Commander, Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i.

This report documents Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC Pacific) marine mammal monitoring efforts in fiscal year (FY) 2020 for Commander, Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), Kauai, Hawaii.

This report documents the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific Whale Acoustic Reconnaissance Project (WARP) Laboratory’s marine mammal monitoring efforts in fiscal year (FY) 2024 for Commander, Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i.

This report documents the Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific Whale Acoustic Reconnaissance Project (WARP) Laboratory’s marine mammal monitoring efforts in fiscal year (FY) 2023 for Commander, Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i.

The goal of this initial phase is to process and compile available data from visual surveys performed by both contractor‐led efforts as well as Navy in‐house ones, such that: 1. A GIS‐based summation of all survey tracks could be visualized 2. A geo‐referenced database of sightings can be queried to visualize sightings by species or survey variables such as observer platform, sea state, or season

The University of Hawai‘i Health and Stranding Lab located at Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH) is the only entity in the Pacific Islands region that responds to strandings, conducts necropsy and cause of death investigations, archives tissues and performs research to identify and evaluate threats to Pacific Island cetaceans. This project focuses on increasing our understanding of infectious diseases in the Pacific Island region by investigating the diseases caused by beaked whale circovirus (BWCV), cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) and toxoplasmosis infections in cetaceans.

We report significant pathological findings from 250 stranding investigations of 20 cetacean species in the Pacific Islands region between 2006 and 2022. Full or partial necropsies of 196 of the 250 stranding cases (78.4%) resulted in a diagnosis or multiple diagnoses associated with death in 126 cases. Natural disease accounted for 60.3% of stranded animals; approximately half were in poor body condition at time of death due to chronic illness. Morbillivirus and Brucella sp. infections caused mortality in eleven species, including striped dolphins and the Longman’s beaked whale. Toxoplasma infection, of anthropogenic cause in Hawaiʻi, led to the deaths of two spinner dolphins. Pygmy and dwarf sperm whales, beaked whales and pilot whales showed heavy parasitism by nematodes, cestodes and trematodes. Approximately 12.7% of stranded individuals were perinates/neonates, with three cases of dystocia with maternal mortality. Anthropogenic trauma was observed in 30.2% of strandings. In seven Cuvier’s beaked whales, cranial and/or microvascular hemorrhages were categorized as trauma. Vertebral and skull fractures were attributed to direct vessel strikes for two pygmy sperm whales, a Cuvier’s beaked whale, a humpback whale calf and a striped dolphin. Blast trauma was observed in three Fraser’s dolphins that were part of an uncommon stranding event. Significant plastic debris, and/or fishery debris were found in stomachs of six species and fatal fishhook penetration occurred in a Submitted in Support of the U.S. Navy’s 2023 Annual Marine Species Monitoring Report for the Pacific STANDARD FORM 298 Back (Rev. 8/98) bottlenose dolphin. This study highlights the value of carcass examinations in a region inhabited by small island associated populations where carcass recovery rates are low, and cetaceans face an array of natural and anthropogenic threats.

Beaked whales are a group of deep diving whales with a world-wide distribution that consists of six genera and 24 identified species. Many species of beaked whales are rarely observed alive at sea and almost all biological data for the most poorly described species is based on stranding events. We examined beaked whale strandings across the western, central and southern Pacific, an area of more than 40 million square kilometers that encompasses island nations and territories in Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia. Confirmed strandings of beaked whales include specimens that represent five different species.

This review examines historical data from 535 odontocete stranding events in the Mariana archipelago and Hawaiian Islands by date, location and species and spans the time period of 1848 to 2023. Reports of strandings increased across the two geographic regions that were generally consistent over time. A total of 54 historical stranding events that represent 14 odontocete species are described for the Mariana Islands. A total of 481 stranding events that represent 19 odontocete species are described from the Hawaiian Islands, significantly updating the last published report that examined 202 odontocete strandings that occurred in the main Hawaiian Islands between 1937 and 2002. ArcGIS cluster maps were utilized to identify groupings of stranding events across the geographic regions. The majority of strandings in the Mariana Islands were reported from the west and southeastern coast of Guam, followed by Saipan, Rota and Tinian. Stranding hotspots in the Hawaiian Islands were identified at Mā’alaea Bay, Maui, at windward Oʻahu and near Kailua-Kona on Hawaiʻi Island.

The University of Hawaii Health and Stranding Lab located at Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH) is the only entity in the Pacific Islands region that responds to strandings, conducts necropsy and cause of death investigations, archives tissues and performs research to identify and evaluate threats to Pacific Island cetaceans (dolphins, whales, and porpoises).