Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 2, 1 February 2016 — Hawaiʻi Island residents recover stranded whale [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiʻi Island residents recover stranded whale

Researchers were able to discover what caused a l,300-pound endangered false killer whale to strand itself at South Point near Ka'ū in December, thanks to the help of two Hawai'i Island residents. After discovering the dead whale, Ka'u resident Rodney Kuahiwinui called John Kahiapo, an education specialist from the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources. Through text messages andphotos, the animal was identified as a false killer whale, a highly endangered species with fewer than 200 still alive.

With so few whales living, all information is critical, say researchers fromHawai'i Pacific University's stranding program They determined that the adult female died from abnormal blood clot formations in the heart and lunas.

Kuahiwinui, who raises cattle on Hawaiian Home Lands, had the heavy equipment needed to lift the whale and plaee it on his flatbed truck. He drove the animal four hours to Kona, where it was flown by Transair to Honolulu. People who see a whale or dolphin stranded on the beach or unusually close to shore are asked to eall 1-888-256-9840 or loeal authorities immediately. ■

1 ,300-nound endanaered false killer whale. - Photo: Courtesv of