Turtle Bay and Sharks Cove on the North Shore were among the most lucrative whale-spotting locales during the year’s first Sanctuary Ocean Count.

More than 557 volunteers gathered data from the shores of Oahu, Kauai and Hawaii island during the first event of the 2018 Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count. Volunteers collected data Saturday from 46 sites statewide, organizers said by email.

A total of 172 whale sightings were seen during the 10:30-10:45 a.m. period, the most of any period throughout the day. The weather was ideal for viewing humpback whales across a majority of the state, the organizers said.

Altogether, 64 adults and two calves were spotted at Sharks Cove, and 49 adults and 24 calves at Turtle Bay.

Ocean Count promotes public awareness about humpback whales, the sanctuary and shore-based whale-watching opportunities. The sanctuary holds Ocean Count three times each year during peak whale season.

Participants tally humpback whale sightings and document the animals’ surface behavior during the survey, which provides a snapshot of humpback whales’ activity from the shoreline. Preliminary data detailing whale sightings by site location are available at www.sanctuaryoceancount.org/resources.

The sanctuary, administered by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, protects humpback whales and their habitat in Hawaii waters where they migrate each winter to mate, calve and nurse their young.

Kauai

Amendment would end term limits for Council members

A resolution that would end term limits for County Council members could be on the ballot in August.

The amendment, proposed last week by Councilman Ross Kagawa, could be on the ballot in August, the Garden Island reported.

Kagawa said he penned the amendment because on Kauai it’s difficult to get voted onto the Council, to get re-elected and to find enough residents who are willing to battle it out at the polls.

When he ran for his first term, Kagawa said, there were only nine candidates for seven seats.

“That’s really sad when you consider there are 70,000 people who live on Kauai,” he said.

The reason many residents might not run for office, he said, is because they could see the two-year limit as not worth it.

Right now, Council members are limited to four two-year terms.

The proposal was deferred Wednesday to the March 14 meeting. The bill will go through a public hearing process, then to committee and then back to the Council before it can be placed on the ballot.

“You’re learning about your job as you’re doing your job, and a year and a half later, you’re looking at possibly losing your job again,” Kagawa said.