Whale Research Excursions: Humpback whale research and protection
Whale Research Excursions is the most vital purpose for whale lovers on Maui.
Ultimate Whale Watch and Snorkel was established in 1982 and has been supporting marine research and whale disentanglement since then.
Ultimate became the first commercial outfit to be a part of NOAA’s Maui. Whale Disentanglement Network, acting as first responders to entangled whales. This responsibility includes volunteering vessel support, captains, crew to respond to entangled whale alerts and assisting with disentangling whales from a line, rope and whatever may be harming the animal.
Contribute to Whale Research!
You can contribute to real research by joining a whale research excursion on Ultimate Whale Watch. While on your whale watch tour, you can take photos of whale flukes which act as whale fingerprints and then submit those photos to HappyWhale.org. The photos taken on the whale research excursions help researchers document and track specific whales, learning more about their migration, habits, and behaviors.
So, you also contribute to whale research with every whale watch tour ticket purchase. Ultimate Whale Watch donates proceeds from every ticket to whale research groups. Like NOAA, Whale Trust, Cascadia, Keiki Kohola Project, CETOS, NASA, University of Hawaii, SCRIPPS UCSD, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and many more researchers.
To learn more about Ultimate Whale Watch’s research support visit our Whale Research Section.