French Polynesia's 2026 Whale Survey: What REMMOA II Found From the Air

What did REMMOA II find? Already, a story much bigger than humpbacks. The campaign finished its fieldwork in May 2026. Its teams covered five archipelagos and looked for marine mammals, turtles, sharks, rays, seabirds, floating fishing devices and marine debris.

The full analysis is still underway and is expected to continue through 2028. So what we have now is a fieldwork update, not a final population count.

What did the teams spot?

The French Biodiversity Office reports sightings of several dolphin species, including spinner, spotted, bottlenose and Risso's dolphins. Teams also recorded orcas around the Marquesas, sperm whales, pygmy sperm whales and beaked whales.

The list of large animals went on: whale sharks, tiger sharks, great hammerheads, oceanic whitetip sharks and oceanic manta rays. Marlin, mahi-mahi and marine turtles were on it too.

I like this as a reminder that the headline animal is never the whole ocean. One observation might be a whale. The next could be a shark, a manta or the trace of a turtle on a remote beach.

Why count whales from a plane?

French Polynesia is a vast area of ocean spread across island groups. To cover it, the survey flew planned lines, called transects. Trained observers looked out through bubble windows on both sides of a light aircraft. From the air, you can cover huge areas quickly and in the same way every time.

Planes have limits too. Animals that are underwater, or outside the observers' view, can be missed. And a sighting is not automatically an estimate of how many animals live there.

Now researchers have the less glamorous, very important job of checking and analysing every observation. That work is what turns "we saw one here" into a clearer picture of where animals live. It also lets them compare those patterns with the earlier baseline from around 15 years ago.

What this means if you are whale-curious

It means new science is happening. It does not mean every animal on the list is reliably visible from a boat. And it does not mean a sighting is guaranteed on a particular island or date.

Humpbacks are a major seasonal draw in French Polynesia, especially around Moʻorea and Rurutu. What the survey adds is a wider view of the whole marine neighbourhood around them.

I love a whale story. I also love the moment when science says, "We finished collecting the data. Now we have to do the work before we know what it means." That is the honest part, and to me it is the exciting part too. If you want to learn the ocean by paying attention to what is there, not by chasing a checklist, explore our French Polynesia guide, or read what the survey saw of sharks and mantas.

Questions people ask

Wildlife encounters are never guaranteed and never forced. Ocean Calling works only with vetted, ethical local operators, and every animal is free to approach, or not, entirely on its own terms.