KIHEI (MAUI), HI - Pacific Whale Foundation, in its 17th year of research on
                        Southern hemisphere humpback whales, has encountered a rare and
                        endangered Southern right whale with her newborn calf in Hervey Bay of
                        Queensland, Australia.

                        In addition, the researchers documented the unusual occurrence of the female
                        right whale and her calf interacting with a female humpback whale and her calf.

                        "This is the first time in history a right whale has entered Hervey Bay," said
                        Gregory D. Kaufman, President of Pacific Whale Foundation and leader of the
                        team which observed the whales. "It may also be the first time that the
                        interaction of a humpback whale and a right whale have been documented in
                        the South Pacific."

                        The Southern right whale was encountered over the course of three days - from
                        September 27 through 29th -- in the Platypus Bay region of Hervey Bay. The
                        research team observing the Southern right whale included Greg Kaufman,
                        Pacific Whale Foundation research assistant Christa Corsaro, marine education
                        specialist Merrill Kaufman, and three research interns.

                        Southern right whales are an endangered species, with only 7,000 -- out of their
                        estimated original population of 150,000 -- remaining in the wild. The Northern
                        Right Whale is thought to be nearly extinct, with fewer than 1,000 animals
                        remaining. In the South Pacific, right whales are normally found further south in
                        the waters off New South Wales and Victoria, where they go to mate and calve
                        each winter and spring.

                        "The right whales were observed resting and slowly swimming about the bay,
                        with the calf spyhopping and lolling about its mother's back and tail flukes,"
                        reports Kaufman. "The encounter with the mother and calf humpback lasted
                        only a few minutes, but there was lots of surface activity and rolling about.
                        Both calves appeared curious towards each other."

                        "Quite frankly when you see a humpback next to a Southern right whale, the
                        humpbacks seem puny in comparison," said Kaufman, noting that humpbacks
                        grow to 13-15 meters (40-45 ft) in length, while right whales reach 16-18 meters
                        (48-60 ft) and are much more rotund than humpbacks.

                        "The flukes on the female right whale were massive, nearly 20 feet across, and
                        her calf was much more 'rolly polly' than the humpback calf," he observed.

                        "It was a case of the endangered meeting the vulnerable," remarked Kaufman,
                        noting that right whales are listed as an endangered species by the Australian
                        government; humpback whales are listed as a vulnerable species.

                        Pacific Whale Foundation's Australian Humpback Whale Research Project,
                        funded by the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage, is the
                        most extensive and longest running study of humpback whales in the southern
                        Pacific. During the span of 17 years, Pacific Whale Foundation researchers
                        have photo-identified more than 2,200 individual humpback whales from the
                        east cost of Australia and in Polynesia. Pacific Whale Foundation's long-term
                        fluke identification work with humpbacks has resulted in discoveries linking the
                        humpback whales of east Australia to Tonga, New Caledonia, Antarctica, and
                        Tahiti. The study has also led to the publication of a book by Pacific Whale
                        Foundation researchers, Humpback Whales of Australia, which catalogs the
                        identification photos and resight histories of 1,183 humpback whales.

                        The results of the ongoing study were relied upon by the Australian
                        government as justification for designating Hervey Bay a marine protected area
                        (sanctuary) and to establish guidelines for whalewatching. Under these laws,
                        right whales and humpback whales are protected from approach no closer than
                        100 meters by vessels in Queensland and Australian waters. Hervey Bay has
                        limited commercial boat access with only 15 extant permits.

                        Pacific Whale Foundation has the only active marine parks research permit for
                        study of humpback whales in the Hervey Bay Marine Park. Pacific Whale
                        Foundation researchers are in Hervey Bay from August through October each
                        year.

                        Each winter some 1,000 - 1,500 humpback enter the broad, shallow (less than 90
                        feet deep) waters of Hervey Bay, primarily on their southward migration from
                        the Great Barrier Reef and islands of Polynesia, en route to their Antarctic
                        feeding grounds. While in Hervey Bay, the humpback whales display a
                        particular curiosity, often lying near vessels for hours on end, spyhopping and
                        rolling at the surface.

                        Southern right whales breed in shallow bays along the southern coasts of
                        Australia and New Zealand. Females breed every 3 years, calves are born in the
                        winter and weaned 12 months later. They return in subsequent years to their
                        calving area.

                        Both Southern right whales and humpbacks feed on krill and can travel as far
                        south as the Antarctic pack ice.

                        "Given that right whales are extremely site specific in their migrations, this may
                        be the start of a new population of whales in Hervey Bay," remarks Kaufman.

                        Right whales are more rotund than humpbacks, and lack a dorsal fin. Their
                        bodies are dark brown to black. Calves are born white and darken to a
                        milk-chocolate brown. White skin callosities on the jaws and head of right
                        whales are arranged in unique patterns, allowing scientists to identify
                        individuals.

                        Humpbacks are identified by the pigmentation patterns on their tail flukes; in
                        the South Pacific, researchers are also able to use the whales' lateral body
                        markings to identify individuals.

                        Kaufman recalls that 20 years ago, a rare Northern right whale was observed off
                        Maui swimming with four humpback whales. No other sightings of right whales
                        in Maui have been recorded.

                        "The sight of the rare Southern right whale and calf, swimming in the vicinity of
                        humpback whales, symbolizes the need to create a whale sanctuary in the
                        South Pacific," said Kaufman. "Some countries would like to begin whaling in
                        this region, but the fact is, the whale species haven't recovered from the last
                        time commercial whaling was allowed here."

                        Pacific Whale Foundation's whale research is being utilized by the Australian
                        government to push the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to create
                        such a sanctuary. Voting on the South Pacific Whale Sanctuary was blocked at
                        last summer's IWC meeting by Japan, Norway and several Caribbean nations.
                        The Pacific Whale Foundation and other supporters of the sanctuary vow to
                        keep the idea alive and are working for a more positive result at the next
                        meeting of the IWC in 2001.

                        Pacific Whale Foundation, with headquarters in Maui and a satellite office in
                        Brisbane, is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to saving whales,
                        dolphins and reefs through marine research, public education and
                        conservation. To learn more about Pacific Whale Foundation, visit
                        www.pacificwhale.org on the Internet