On the first trip, Ishmael sees 28 male whales * 2 = <<28*2=56>>56 female whales.
So in total, he sees 28 male whales + 56 female whales = <<28+56=84>>84 whales on the first trip.
On the second trip, each baby whale travels with its parents which means it travels in a group of 1 baby whale + 2 parents = <<1+2=3>>3 whales/baby whale.
This means there are 8 baby whales * 3 whales/baby whale = <<8*3=24>>24 whales on the second trip.
On the third trip, there are half as many male whales as there were on the first trip, so there must be 28 male whales / 2 = <<28/2=14>>14 male whales.
Adding this to the female whales means he saws 14 males whales + 56 female whales = <<14+56=70>>70 whales on the third trip.
In total, Ishmael saw 84 + 24 + 70 = <<84+24+70=178>>178 whales across the three trips.
#### 178