Hawaii Uncharted Research Collective

Directions Website Contact the organization

Hawaii Uncharted Research Collective Based in Kona & Maui, our team is thrilled to begin this journey with the community. Hawaii's first Whale Shark Research group

Hawai‘i Uncharted Research Collective is a 501c3 non-profit organization conducting scientific research on whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in the state of Hawai'i.

What’s that buoy floating way offshore?FAD stands for Fish Aggregating Device: a buoy anchored to the seafloor in deep w...
10/16/2026

What’s that buoy floating way offshore?

FAD stands for Fish Aggregating Device: a buoy anchored to the seafloor in deep water, often miles from shore. Fish naturally gather around floating objects like logs and debris, so FADs create a “meeting spot” in the open ocean. 🐟

Hawaiʻi has a statewide FAD program that’s been running since 1980, helping fishers find tuna, mahimahi, ono, and marlin without searching the whole ocean.

So what does this have to do with whale sharks?
Whale sharks are also drawn to floating objects and the life that gathers around them. Around the world, they’re known to show up near FADs, which also puts them at risk of encounters with fishing gear. That’s why scientists and fisheries managers are pushing for safer, non-entangling FAD designs.

Featured shark: Rt 529 – Midnight
📍 Hawaiʻi Island
📸 Paul & Kary Cox

What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen around a FAD or a buoy?

Take a close look at these four whale sharks and tell us in the comments what you notice, or what makes each one unique!...
10/14/2026

Take a close look at these four whale sharks and tell us in the comments what you notice, or what makes each one unique!

Four new whale sharks, four brand-new names, identified top to bottom.

Rt 525 – Holly Jolly Christmas
📍 Hawaiʻi Island
📸 Emily Sepeta | Kona Honu Divers

Rt 523 – Leilani Au Au
📍 Hawaiʻi Island
📸 Crystal Davis | Kona Honu Divers

Rt 521 – Sol
📍 Oʻahu
📸 jalan | Dolphin Excursions Hawaii

Rt 522 – Ken
📍 Oʻahu
📸 Brent Ching 

And remember: spot a new shark, and you get to name it! A huge mahalo to our contributors and partner boats for sharing their encounters 💙

They’re the largest fish in the ocean, and one of the most overlooked keepers of it.Whale sharks filter over 6,000 liter...
09/10/2026

They’re the largest fish in the ocean, and one of the most overlooked keepers of it.

Whale sharks filter over 6,000 liters of seawater every hour, feeding on plankton and keeping the base of the marine food web in balance. But their numbers have dropped by roughly 50% in the last 75 years, and they’re now listed as Endangered.

Awareness is where protection starts. Swipe through to learn why this gentle giant matters more than most of us realize.

Everybody say hi to Logie Star. 🦈HI-Rt-510, cruising off Oʻahu in 2025, caught on camera by Tiffany Bruno One good photo...
09/06/2026

Everybody say hi to Logie Star. 🦈

HI-Rt-510, cruising off Oʻahu in 2025, caught on camera by Tiffany Bruno

One good photo is all it takes. Logie Star now has a name, an ID, and a permanent spot in our database. If they swim past someone’s GoPro five years from now off a totally different island? We’ll know exactly who it is.

Got whale shark photos from Hawaiian waters? Send them our way…you might be naming the next one!

Everybody say hi to Logie Star. ⭐️HI-Rt-510, cruising off Oʻahu in 2025, caught on camera by Tiffany Bruno One good phot...
09/06/2026

Everybody say hi to Logie Star. ⭐️

HI-Rt-510, cruising off Oʻahu in 2025, caught on camera by Tiffany Bruno

One good photo is all it takes. Logie Star now has a name, an ID, and a permanent spot in our database. If they swim past someone’s GoPro five years from now off a totally different island? We’ll know exactly who it is.

Got whale shark photos from Hawaiian waters? Send them our way…you might be naming the next one!

Sailor and Kalea would like a word. 🦈We swapped their names last post, so we wanted to give them the IG likes they deser...
09/02/2026

Sailor and Kalea would like a word. 🦈

We swapped their names last post, so we wanted to give them the IG likes they deserve!

KALEA — Rt 516, came in close, for her photo shoot.
SAILOR — Rt 519, cruising the sand, chatting with his fish friend. 🐟

Yes, there are humans behind this account and we made an oops!

On this International Whale Shark Day, we are sharing one BIG story! 🦈 One whale shark. 12,516 miles. And nine days spen...
08/30/2026

On this International Whale Shark Day, we are sharing one BIG story! 🦈 One whale shark. 12,516 miles. And nine days spent just south of us.

In 2011 researchers tagged a female whale shark named Anne off the coast of Panama. Over the next 841 days she swam past the Galápagos, across the open Pacific, and on to the Mariana Trench, making her journey the longest whale shark migration ever recorded.

Somewhere in the middle of that journey, her tag went quiet for 235 days. When it picked up again, she was south of Hawaii. She stayed nine days. Then she kept going.

That’s what International Whale Shark Day is really about. These animals don’t belong to any one country. A shark photographed here might have been photographed in Mexico, the Philippines, or Australia, and might be again.

It’s also why every photo matters. We can’t follow them across an ocean. What we can do is record who was here, and when. String enough of those moments together, across enough coastlines, and a migration route starts to appear.

Anne’s 841 days took a satellite tag and years of work. Your photo takes a second. Both are pieces of the same map. 🩵

Nine new faces. Nine new names. 🦈Tiberius. Sharkalarka. Pau Hana. Jeremy Wade. Luna. Sailor. Kalea. Chicken Nugget. Jada...
08/27/2026

Nine new faces. Nine new names. 🦈

Tiberius. Sharkalarka. Pau Hana. Jeremy Wade. Luna. Sailor. Kalea. Chicken Nugget. Jada.

All recently identified and added to our database and every one a whale shark we’d never documented before!

We identify each individual by their spot pattern, which is unique to them and stays the same for life. One clear photo is all it takes to add someone new, or to recognize an old friend returning.

And yes…whoever spots a new shark gets to name it! Mahalo to everyone who helped us identify these new ocean friends. 🩵

If you identified a whale shark tomorrow, what would you name it? 🦈

07/30/2026

Bite me 6 got a nice visitor on their private half day today. Not too many guests get to see one of these up close and personal.

🐋 GIVEAWAY ALERT 🐋We teamed up with our friends at to send ONE lucky winner a Whale Shark Mask, Snorkel & Belt Set! 🤿He...
07/01/2026

🐋 GIVEAWAY ALERT 🐋

We teamed up with our friends at to send ONE lucky winner a Whale Shark Mask, Snorkel & Belt Set! 🤿

Here’s the catch: every entry and share helps us raise a little more awareness for whale sharks right here in Hawaii. You get beautiful new gear, the ocean gets a little more love and the more people who know about these gentle giants, the more we can do to protect them. 🌊

HOW TO ENTER:
1️⃣ Follow +
2️⃣ Like this post
3️⃣ Comment with the ocean creature you’d most love to encounter in the wild
✨ Bonus entry: share this to your Story and tag us both

Giveaway closes July 8th, 2026, 11:59pm HST. Winner chosen at random and announced in our stories shortly after. We will also DM you in case you miss it! Open to U.S. shipping only. Good luck!

mahalo to for the stunning photography and for being our model

Address

53-081 Halai St
Hauula, HI
96717

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Hawaii Uncharted Research Collective posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Hawaii Uncharted Research Collective:

Shortcuts

Share

Category