Captain Dan McSweeney is known worldwide for his conservation efforts on behalf of whales and dolphins. His research has contributed to the knowledge of Hawaiian whales and helped management agencies protect these creatures.

His research work on humpback whales started in Hawaii in the early 1970's. For 14 years Dan migrated to Alaska to study them on their feeding grounds. In 1989, he was selected by the federal government as one of four marine mammal scientists to assess the potential impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on humpback whales and killer whales in Alaska.

Recently, Dan has been working with research teams here in Hawaii to better understand some of the world's least known species of whales. This work includes learning more about the potential impacts of Navy sonar on whales. He is also collecting information to estimate population sizes and to examine movements and boundaries of populations, as well as understand how these wild creatures use the waters around the Hawaiian Islands.

His research work has been published in numerous government and scientific journals such as Marine Mammal Science and Canadian Journal of Marine Mammalogy.

Dan's lifetime knowledge of and experience around whales has made him the selection of film crews from the U.S. and foreign countries filming whale documentaries and feature films. His work with whales has been featured on local, state and national news and TV specials including the Discovery Channel and National Geographic Films. His photography has appeared in magazines like Audubon and GEO.

Captain Dan has personally conducted whale watching adventures in Kona since the mid 1970's, introducing tens of thousands of visitors and residents to the fascinating world of wild whales. His trips are internationally renowned for their excellence.