Whale Trust

Whale Trust Whale Trust promotes, supports and conducts scientific research on whales and the marine environment. https://linktr.ee/whaletrustmaui

Register for the 20th Annual Whale Tales: https://whaletrust.org/registration/ Whale Trust seeks to do more than fund groundbreaking field research on our earth's largest marine mammals. Results from Whale Trust's field research are the basis for a broader program of outreach and education that involve the public, educators and a new generation of researchers whom Whale Trust hopes to inspire.

05/29/2026

Our 2025-2026 Maui Field Season:

🐋 Around 270 Whales Encountered
🐳 So far we have 159 IDs
🌊 33 Days on the water
🎤 28 song recordings
🧪 10 Blubber biopsies collected
📸 4 Drone flights with 11 different whales recorded
🔬2 Skin samples collected
🍼 2 Milk Samples collected

NMFS Permit #25987

Here is a picture of one of our co-founders, Flip Nicklin, playing with a GoPro when they first came out!
05/29/2026



Here is a picture of one of our co-founders, Flip Nicklin, playing with a GoPro when they first came out!

This is a photo of one of our co-founders, Flip Nicklin having a close encounter with a s***m whale in the Galápagos Is...
05/21/2026



This is a photo of one of our co-founders, Flip Nicklin having a close encounter with a s***m whale in the Galápagos Islands. Flip was working with Hal Whitehead at the time. The photo was taken by Sacha Ho**er, a researcher who was working with Hal.

In the photo the s***m whale was resting on the surface, the kayak allowed Flip to be close to the whale without causing a disturbance.

This image was featured in National Geographic as the lead photo in Flip Nicklin’s first humpback whale story for the...
05/14/2026



This image was featured in National Geographic as the lead photo in Flip Nicklin’s first humpback whale story for the magazine. Taken in 1981, the photo features fellow Whale Trust co-founder Dr. Jim Darling. The article, published in 1982, was titled “A New Light on Humpback Whales".

05/10/2026

Humpback whale mothers showcase the ultimate devotion to their calves. They travel thousands of miles to give birth in warm protected waters. They lose up to a third of their body weight nursing and caring for their calf, all while eating little to nothing themselves.

This Mother’s Day, we celebrate the incredible strength, care, and devotion of mothers both above and below the surface.

Happy Mother’s Day 🐋

ⓒRalph Pace/NMFS Permit #19225

This is a classic photo of one of our founders, Dr. Jim Darling sitting on our old Proline boat in Lahaina Harbor.
05/07/2026



This is a classic photo of one of our founders, Dr. Jim Darling sitting on our old Proline boat in Lahaina Harbor.

Monterey Photo Expeditions ended with a SPLASH! The finale of the trip was a pod of orcas exhibiting hunting behaviors a...
05/04/2026

Monterey Photo Expeditions ended with a SPLASH! The finale of the trip was a pod of orcas exhibiting hunting behaviors and teaching two young calves to hunt.

Thanks for the photos Ralph!

Today we wrapped up our Monterey Photo Expedition! We had an incredible group out on the water with us and saw lots of d...
05/02/2026

Today we wrapped up our Monterey Photo Expedition! We had an incredible group out on the water with us and saw lots of different species over the course of the expedition. Thank you to each of the amazing participants for joining us and for Ralph Lee Hopkins and Ralph Pace Photography for leading the group!

A friendly female rolling upside down during our Executive Director, Dr. Meagan Jones Gray's PhD project. This photo wa...
05/01/2026



A friendly female rolling upside down during our Executive Director, Dr. Meagan Jones Gray's PhD project. This photo was taken by another of our founders, Flip Nicklin.

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PO Box 1360
Puunene, HI
96784

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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+18085725700

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