NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries announced the appointment of Kim Hum of Maui as superintendent of Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.
She previously was the Marine Program Director of the Hawai‘i chapter of the Nature Conservancy. Under her leadership over the past 20 years, Hum’s team helped launch and support innovative conservation projects with partners mauka to makai. Projects include large scale invasive species removal and wetland restoration partnerships in Heʻeia, coral restoration, reef insurance, sustainable community-based fisheries management through FishPath, the first community-led marine Rest Area at Kaʻūpūlehu on the island of Hawai‘i, development of a marine managed area plan identifying biologically important places across the main Hawaiian Islands, and 19 Conservation Action Plans guiding state and community management efforts across the state.
Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary is administered by a partnership of NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the State of Hawai‘i through the Division of Aquatic Resources. The sanctuary works to protect humpback whales and their habitat through research, education, conservation and stewardship.
The sanctuary is part of America’s National Marine Sanctuary System, a network of underwater areas encompassing more than 620,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters. The network includes a system of 15 national marine sanctuaries and Papahānaumokuākea and Rose Atoll marine national monuments. The National Marine Sanctuary System is celebrating its 50 year anniversary in 2022.