Department of Land and Natural Resources

(Honolulu) – Video of a man standing on top of the carcass of a sperm whale off the south shore of O‘ahu is being investigated by both federal and state law enforcement authorities. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) and the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) are looking into this incident and any others where people have touched the whale or as some reports have suggested, tried to remove some of its teeth.

(Honolulu) – The decomposing carcass of a sperm whale, at last report, has moved to a location about eight miles south of Pearl Harbor. This despite it being towed 15-miles off shore after it landed last week on the reef adjacent to the Sand Island Recreation Area.

(Honolulu) – More than 500 Aholehole confiscated from a pair of fishermen eight days ago did not go to waste. Many people inquired on social media about the fate of the fish. The DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) photographed them for evidence and then turned them over to the Division of Aquatic Resources’ (DAR) Anuenue Fisheries Research Center at Sand Island.

(Honolulu) – Today, the State Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) agreed to a request from the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) to reopen four of twelve Bottomfish Restricted Areas (BRFAs) in the Main Hawaiian Islands. These restricted areas were first established in 1998 to provide refuge for what are known as the deep-7 bottomfish species.

(Honolulu) – The Waikiki-Diamond Head Shoreline Fisheries Management Area (SFMA), O‘ahu, will be closed to fishing for one year, from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2019.

(Honolulu) – Hawaii-based marine and animal protection organizations have joined forces with the Hawai‘i Dept. of Land and Natural Resources to make it easier for people to report illegal aquarium collecting activity across the state.

(Honolulu) – The wreckage of a Robinson R44 helicopter was airlifted out of waist deep water in Kaneohe Bay just before noon today.  Two DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) officers assisted a rigger from Pacific Helicopters in getting straps and ropes around the chopper, which had turned on one side during or after the accident.

(HONOLULU) – The contributions of hunters and fishers to conservation were again recognized nationally and in Hawai‘i during National Hunting and Fishing Day events. This was Hawai‘i’s 28th year of recognizing the event and for the first-time activities were scheduled over two separate weekends.

 (Honolulu) - The saga of a juvenile koholā (humpback whale) that began in January 1986 when it stranded on the shore of Kūheia on the island of Kanaloa Kahoʻoawe, came to a meaningful closing on August 15, 2018 (Kūpau Moon).

(Honolulu) - A juvenile whale shark that was entangled with heavy rope in recent weeks has been freed. On Sunday a group of free divers located the whale shark off Kaunolū, Lānaʻi and after five dives were able to successfully cut the line.