![Spinner dolphin](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130214211630im_/http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cetacean/img/spinner_dolphin.jpg)
![Humpback whales](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130214211630im_/http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cetacean/img/humpback_whales.jpg)
![Fraser's dolphins](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130214211630im_/http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/cetacean/img/frasers_dolphins.jpg)
Cetacean Research
PIFSC cetacean research is concerned with populations of whales and dolphins in the central and western Pacific Ocean. More...
News and Highlights
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November 21, 2012
NMFS Rules on Status and Protections for Hawaii False Killer WhalesAfter review of new biological data (1.1 MB PDF) by an expert scientific panel and consideration of public comment, NOAA Fisheries has concluded that the main Hawaiian Islands insular population of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) is an endangered distinct population segment (DPS) under the Endangered Species Act. The agency also issued rules to reduce the mortality and serious injury to false killer whales in Hawaii-based pelagic longline fisheries. Details of the findings, decisions and supporting information are available on the NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Regional Office website at http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/.
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August 17, 2012
PIFSC researchers, in collaboration with colleagues from the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California, are making strides in understanding the distribution and abundance of cetaceans in the scattered parts of the Pacific U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the adjoining high seas. More...
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October 31, 2011
On Saturday, November 26, a workshop on the science and conservation of dolphins and other toothed whales (the group of cetaceans known as odontocetes) that occur in Hawaiian waters will be held at the Tampa Convention Center, in Tampa, Florida as part of the 19th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals.
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July 18, 2011
The primary wintering grounds of the humpback whale in the North Pacific are in the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI). More...
Recent Staff Publications
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November 26, 2012Reevaluation of the DPS designation for Hawaiian (now main Hawaiian Islands) insular false killer whalesOleson EM, Boggs CH, Forney KA, Hanson MB, Kobayashi DR, Taylor BL, Wade PR, Ylitalo GM
[2012] Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, PIFSC Internal Report, IR-12-038, 39 p -
October 9, 2012Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song occurrence at American Samoa in long-term passive acoustic recordings, 2008-2009Munger LM, Lammers MO, Fisher-Pool P, Wong K
[2012] Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 132(4): 2265-2272. DOI: 10.1121/1.4747014 -
July 24, 2012Range and primary habitats of Hawaiian insular false killer whales: informing determination of critical habitatBaird RW, Hanson MB, Schorr GS, Webster DL, McSweeney DJ, Gorgone AM, Mahaffy SD, Holzer DM, Oleson EM, Andrews RD
[2012] Endangered Species Research 18(1): 47-61. DOI: 10.3354/esr00435 -
June 4, 2012Line-transect abundance estimates of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) in the pelagic region of the Hawaiian exclusive economic zone and in the insular waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian IslandsBradford AL, Forney KA, Oleson EM, Barlow J
[2012] Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Administrative Report H-12-02, 23 p -
March 1, 2012Cetacean surveys of Guam and CNMI waters: August - September, 2011Hill M, Ligon A, Deakos M, U Adam, Norris E, Oleson E
[2012] Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, PIFSC Data Report, DR-12-002, 25 p -
July 19, 2011Eddies as offshore foraging grounds for melon-headed whalesWoodworth PA, Schorr GS, Baird RW, Webster DL, McSweeney DJ, Hanson MB, Andrews RD, Polovina JJ
[2012] Marine Mammal Science 28(3): 638-647. DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-7692.2011.00509.x