Stephanie H. Stack

Stephanie H. Stack

she/her

Marine mammalogist | Humpback whale behavioural ecology & energetics | UAV photogrammetry | Conservation science

Dolphin population monitoring in Hawaii

Overview

Robust population monitoring requires sustained, systematic effort over years and decades. Across more than a decade of fieldwork in Maui Nui and the wider main Hawaiian Islands, I have studied the abundance, health, and human impacts on resident dolphin populations, combining photo-identification, line-transect and mark-recapture survey methods, and aerial photogrammetry to track individuals and populations through time.

Spinner dolphins

I led systematic surveys of spinner dolphins in Maui Nui, characterising their movement patterns and daytime resting habitat use. This work provided the scientific basis for time-area management measures intended to protect resting spinner dolphins from human disturbance under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Population health indicators

Building on long-term photo-identification, I documented the incidence of dorsal fin collapse across odontocete species in Maui Nui — an externally visible indicator of individual and population health — establishing baseline rates against which future change can be assessed.

False killer whales and pygmy killer whales

I have contributed to the health and body condition assessment of Hawaii’s oceanic dolphins, including the critically endangered main Hawaiian Islands insular false killer whale population and free-ranging pygmy killer whales. Using aerial photogrammetry and longitudinal observation, this work quantifies body condition and documents the energetic consequences of anthropogenic disturbance and entanglement.

Selected publications

  • Stack et al. (2020) — Identifying spinner dolphin movement and behavioral patterns to inform conservation strategies in Maui Nui, Hawaii. Marine Ecology Progress Series. DOI: 10.3354/meps13347
  • Stack et al. (2019) — Incidence of odontocetes with dorsal fin collapse in Maui Nui, Hawaii. Aquatic Mammals. DOI: 10.1578/AM.45.3.2019.257
  • Currie, Stirling, Olson, van Aswegen, Evans, Stack et al. (2026) — Body condition differs among social clusters and across years in endangered false killer whales in Hawaiʻi. Endangered Species Research. DOI: 10.3354/esr01505
  • Currie, van Aswegen, Stack et al. (2021) — Rapid weight loss in free ranging pygmy killer whales and the implications for anthropogenic disturbance of odontocetes. Scientific Reports. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-87514-2