Kauaʻi record · KCA-MAM-humpback-whale
Humpback whale
Megaptera novaeangliae
Open this record in the interactive Atlas
About Humpback whale
Kauaʻi status: Confirmed seasonally in Kauaʻi waters. Ecological relationships include sanctuary waters, vessel activity, ocean noise, and entanglement response.
Kauaʻi evidence
NOAA sanctuary boundaries and species profile support seasonal Kauaʻi occurrence and habitat use.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Megaptera novaeangliae
- Common names
- Humpback whale
- Hawaiian names
- Koholā
- Record type
- species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Confirmed seasonally in Kauaʻi waters
- Origin
- Indigenous seasonal migrant
- Conservation status
- MMPA protected; Hawaiʻi stock status follows current NOAA assessments
- Evidence date
- 2026-09-13
- Evidence limits
- Uncertainty is retained at site, abundance, and trend levels.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- coastal and offshore waters · sanctuary waters
- Food and resource needs
- Feeds primarily in high-latitude feeding grounds
- Reproduction
- warm calving and nursing waters
- Shelter
- nearshore and shelf waters
Threats and conservation
- Threats
- entanglement · vessel strike · harassment · ocean noise · climate-driven prey change
- Conservation actions
- 100-yard approach compliance · entanglement response · vessel vigilance · sanctuary stewardship
- Monitoring
- shore counts · photo-identification · acoustic monitoring · entanglement reports
- Data gaps
- Site-scale abundance and trend coverage remains uneven.
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Seasonal migrant; breeding, calving, and nursing
- Seasonal description
- Kauaʻi status: Confirmed seasonally in Kauaʻi waters. Ecological relationships include sanctuary waters, vessel activity, ocean noise, and entanglement response.