Marine Mammal Responders | Honolulu Magazine

It was fascinating learning about the great work of Hawaii's Marine Mammal Response Network, and photographing Ed Lyman and Kristi West for Honolulu Magazine. Ed Lyman is the Disentanglement Coordinator for NOAA at the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary in Kihei, Maui, and he told us amazing stories about whale disentanglements while showing us the types of debris caught on the animals and the tools they use. HPU Professor Kristi West is the director of the response network's stranding program and performs necropsies on the dolphins and whales who die near shore. We photographed Kristi doing a stomach content analysis of a Pygmy Sperm Whale with her assistants Elyse Kohli and Su White.


Squid beaks found inside a Pygmy Sperm Whale stomach

Dolphin dorsal fin specimen

Ed Lyman demonstrates using a grappling hook with fishing gear removed from a whale

Pygmy Sperm Whale stomach content analysis

Looking for specimens in the freezer


Fishing ropes caught on a whale

Kristi, Su and Elyse demonstrate a necropsy with a plastic dolphin

Pygmy Sperm Whale stomach


Large Whale Disentangler, Ed Lyman, with the fishing gear he's removed from whales, along with the buoys used to slow the whales down and a transponder.