19 March 2026

Solo Trip: Hawaii BioBlitz 2026 (5 native mammal lifers + 3 native non-lifers)

I just completed a solo trip and tour to Hawaii for Tropical Birding. I am a full-taxa lister for native animals only so I divided my solo time into searching for the two endemic mammals to Hawaii (I got both!), the endemic invertebrates, different reef fish, and marine invertebrates.

In total I got 5 native mammals, the highlights were Hawaiian Hoary Bat, Hawaiian Monk Seal and Rough-toothed Dolphins! I managed to see all the possible native Hawaiian birds, and massive cast of marine life including one of my most wanted shark species, the Oceanic White-tip. The trip report covers my full solo venture. If you are not interested in the tide pooling and invertebrates you can skip to the end of the report where I included a summary of how to see the two endemic mammals and the best pelagic tours to take.

 

Enjoy and thank you to everyone how gave advice on my previous post. Your tips made a huge difference in the success of this trip. Thank you again!

  • Zac
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Zac Babbit
I am a life long naturalist and lister. I am interested in all faunal groups and some select floral groups. Especially interested in small carnivores, bats, and other under appreciated mammals.
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6 Comments

  • 19 March 2026
    Vladimir Dinets

    Nice trip! In my experience (based on advise from locals), the best way to see tiger sharks is to rent equipment and do as many night/sunrise dives from ‘Alula Beach on Big Island as possible. You also get other shark species there if you go into the boat channel.

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    • 19 March 2026
      Zac Babbit

      Great to know for next time! I’ve heard July is better in general for Tigers too.

      • 20 March 2026
        Vladimir Dinets

        All I can say is that I was there in early August and saw a huge tiger shark on the third attempt. If you swim out from ‘Alula Beach to the buoy and dive along the chain at night, sandbar sharks come to investigate you. There was also one shark of another species but it never got close enough to ID.
        I went on blackwater dive in the same area and we had to cut it 5 min short because of exceedingly friendly pelagic white-tip.

        • 20 March 2026
          Zac Babbit

          Oceanic White-tips are super sketchy beasts. Did you see other cool animals on your blackwater dive? I was hoping to go on one but they didn’t have availability for my dates.

          • 21 March 2026
            Vladimir Dinets

            Oh yes. It was my best hour of 2005. Flying fish, 3 squid species, a few cool comb jellies and siphonophores, larvae of lobsters and cusk eels, a free-swimming remora, larval octopus, salps, pteropods, etc., etc.

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  • 25 March 2026
    Jon Hall

    Great stuff Zac. Rough-toothed Dolphins are one of my favorite cetaceans and a very worthy number 500!

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