DB Post Friday October 31st

U/U@RI, Ewa Girl@CIP, U/U@LL, 10-31-08

The SE quadrant was, once again , a total bust , until I got a look at Rabbit Island from the Makapuu Overview (MO) at 0704. I found an adult sized animal with an old coat , in the shallows off the right end of the beach. The animal was doing head bobs and after a a couple of minutes of looking and then rolling in the shallows, disappeared from view and I did not see it again. Based on size , color and behavior I'd put my dollar on M38, but of course I can not prove that. Thru multiple looks at Rabbit Island through the day, I saw no other animals.

I decided to do a SW quadrant run, and personally checked the beaches from Ewa Beach to the Nimitz Beach jetty, and found nobody.

The Billands called at around 1300 to report that they were with Ewa Girl at the Palm Grove at Campbell Industrial Park (CIP). Since they had her covered I continued on to Ewa Beach, and then returned to civilization in the SE quadrant and and empty RI at 1437.

While out west, I'd gotten a call from Brasileira Posse Person Lesley, reporting from Lanai Lookout (LL) at 1343, that divers had told her they had seen an animal first on the right and then on the left side of the Lanai Lookout point. When I got to LL at 1512 I lucked out and found the same 4 divers just exiting the water . After interviewing the 4, I came away with the info that they had seen an adult sized, male animal, with no visible tags, and a new coat. They could provide no other information. My guess would be that we are talking R301 here, but of course we will never know. When the had exiting the water just moments before the animal had swum off in a Hanauma Bay direction. It will be interesting to see who pops up at Hanauma Bay, or Spitting Cave in the morning. Aloha, DB