. S . ▁waters , ▁which ▁live ▁along ▁the ▁east ▁and ▁west ▁coast s , ▁and ▁around ▁the ▁Hawai ian ▁Islands . ▁There ▁best ▁available ▁abund ance ▁estimates ▁place ▁the ▁West ▁Coast ▁stock ▁at ▁only ▁ 8 0 0 ▁animals , ▁and ▁the ▁East ▁Coast ▁stock ▁at ▁ 2 1 , 5 0 0 . ▁These ▁estimates ▁come ▁from ▁sight ings ▁reported ▁from ▁vessel ▁and ▁aer ial ▁surve ys , ▁and ▁may ▁be ▁under - re present ing ▁the ▁true ▁population ▁abund ance ▁due ▁to ▁the ▁wide ▁range ▁that ▁the ▁species ▁covers , ▁and ▁the ▁difficulty ▁of ▁distingu ishing ▁long - f inned ▁and ▁short - f inned ▁pilot ▁wh ales ▁at ▁sea . ▁ ▁The ▁Hawai ian ▁arch ip el ago ▁is ▁home ▁to ▁the ▁N ais a - type ▁short - f inned ▁pilot ▁wh ale , ▁which ▁appears ▁to ▁be ▁seg reg ated ▁into ▁three ▁island - associ ated ▁communities ▁based ▁on ▁phot - ID ▁and ▁satellite ▁tag ging ▁data : ▁the ▁Main ▁Hawai ian ▁Islands ▁( M HI ) ▁community , ▁the ▁North western ▁Hawai ian ▁Islands ▁( N W HI ) ▁community , ▁found ▁around ▁O ’ ahu ▁and ▁K au a ’ i ▁Islands , ▁and ▁the ▁central ▁M HI ▁community ▁around ▁O ’ ahu ▁and ▁L ā na ’ i ▁Islands . ▁There ▁are ▁no ▁population ▁estimates ▁for ▁the ▁different ▁island ▁communities , ▁but ▁in ▁all ▁of ▁Hawai ian ▁waters ▁there ▁are ▁an ▁estimated ▁ 9 0 - 2 0 ▁thousand ▁short - f inned ▁pilot