Pacific Whale Foundation

{{Short description|US-based non-profit organization}}

{{Infobox organization

| name = Pacific Whale Foundation

| image = Pacific Whale Foundation logo.jpg

| abbreviation = PWF

| formation = {{start date and age|1980||}}

| type = Nonprofit

| tax_id = 99-0207417

| status = 501(c)(3) Foundation

| purpose = Conservation

| headquarters = Maui, Hawaii, United States

| leader_title = Board Chair

| leader_name = Mary Kate Rosack

| leader_title2 = Interim Executive Director

| leader_name2 = Dayna Garland

| website = {{URL|https://www.pacificwhale.org/}}

}}

The Pacific Whale Foundation (PWF) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1980 and based in Maui, Hawaii, that conducts whale research and educates the public in an effort to save vulnerable species of whales from extinction. As of 2012 the organization had about 150 employees.{{cite web

|url=http://www.pacificwhale.org/content/about-us

|title=About PWF

|publisher=Pacific Whale Foundation

|accessdate=2012-04-02}}

Since its foundation the PWF has been working to prevent destruction of populations of humpback whales, dolphins, turtles and coral reefs in Hawaii.{{cite web

|url=http://volunteer-on-vacation-hawaii.com/hawaii-voluteer-projects/pacific-whale-foundation.htm

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329140827/http://volunteer-on-vacation-hawaii.com/hawaii-voluteer-projects/pacific-whale-foundation.htm

|url-status=usurped

|archive-date=March 29, 2010

|title=Pacific Whale Foundation

|work=Volunteer on Vacation in Hawaii

|accessdate=2012-04-02}}

Every year the PWF organizes a "Great Whale Count" where volunteers systematically gather data on whales that can be seen from ten observation points along the southern shore of Maui, giving a series of snapshots that indicate changes in whale populations.{{cite web

|url=http://www.eturbonews.com/27683/public-invited-assist-maui-whale-count

|title=Public invited to assist with Maui whale count

|date=Jan 31, 2012

|work=eTurbo News

|accessdate=2012-04-02}}

The Pacific Whale Foundation provided funding to the Alfaguara project on Isla de Chiloé in southern Chile for marine surveys of the local blue whale population in the 2012 season.{{cite web

|url=http://www.pacificwhale.org/content/pwf-assists-study-blue-whales-chile

|publisher=Pacific Whale Foundation

|title=PWF ASSISTS WITH STUDY OF BLUE WHALES IN CHILE

|accessdate=2012-04-01

|archive-date=2016-04-02

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402105420/http://www.pacificwhale.org/content/pwf-assists-study-blue-whales-chile

|url-status=dead

}}

The PWF also has a second home in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia.{{Cite web|url=https://pacificwhale.com.au/|title=Pacific Whale Foundation Australia {{!}} Protecting the Ocean Through Science & Advocacy|website=Pacific Whale Foundation Australia|language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-24}}