Tuesday, June 14, 2011

6-14-11 Ua'Malie is Back!

Well she can't hide no more...  Photos courtesy Team Billand
 she's pretty healthy looking for a yearling... must be finding some good eats
 photos courtesy of  Scott Sundby
 thankyou scott

Posted by at
Labels: ,

4 comments:

Barbara said...

We had intentions of finding CeeCee after hearing he was out at Turtle Bay area from a fishermen. But to our disappointment, we never saw him anywhere. And at the very end of our Journey,I took a trail to this last spot and oh my gosh...theres a seal!!! Who is it??? Ok, fat, green, oh, seal turns, see the tags, T10/T11..oh, its Ua Malie!!! Oh my, look at how chubby she is and so healthy, just magnificent a lady. I said a prayer for her, for letting us see her once more. Havent seen this cute baby since last year when they tagged her..oh what a sweet sweet baby. I had just 16 minutes with her, Rob was talking to the fishermen to ask what the area was called..HIGH ROCK! Its same place Kelly Evans saw her too. Cool. Phew, quite a walk, that took us three hours round trip. And we did the sand trek, all the way, looking for CEECEE. We also saw a couple of wallows..no seal tho. Magnificent beauty out that way, we never been that far. Along the way, we saw chairs on shore, nets here and there, on shore. A debris section all gathered in one spot, a beautiful tree, dead and artistic looking. At the end, a site with a hibachi and a small stucture, some torn tarps, cans on the ground,very jagged rocky area where Ua Malie was resting. Saw seven netters, one on a quad. One tropic bird. Also at the end of trek, we went further to see the debris gathering from the water to land...a mini cabage patch area. Passed a Makai Ranch, windmills seen too and some old concrete buildings that looked abandoned. Well, we gave it a shot...no hooked seal...Just that beautiful green munchkin known as Ua Malie. She is doing just fine, all by herself. Flipper hugs Ua malie!!!!!! We are most grateful for good weather, for returning intact and most of all...Finding Ua!!
And we are most thankful, we made it all the way back ok, tired, but happy we found ONE SEAL.

June 14, 2011 at 10:49 PM
Diga said...

Team Billand, you are AMAZING! First, you do the SW quadrant and then the trek out to High Rock from TB. Having made that trek last week, I know it's exhausting.

As usual, your photos are fantastic! You have a way of capturing a seals personality. Ua looks so healthy. I figure she and Max are about the same age. I'm just wondering how they compare, size wise. It's hard to gadge the size from a photo. I hope I am lucky enough to see her in person soon.

Thanks for all you do. Diane

June 15, 2011 at 6:55 AM
kelly girl said...

I'm so glad you made it out there. It is hell a far!!! You must have slept good. As usual you take the best photos. The scenery is fantastic out there. Thanks so much for caring enough to make the journey to Ua Malie. You both set such a great example. Rest be with you and peace be with Ua Malie. me ke aloha, kelly girl

June 15, 2011 at 11:49 AM
Barbara said...

Thanks Diga and Kelly girl for all your kind remarks. Rob and I keep talking about the trek out there, it really was so beautiful. Bummed we never found the hooked seal, but, oh what a thrill to see Ua again. Yes, she may be the same age as Max R5EW, PERHAPS. They are both green right now, near a molt time. But Max is way smaller than fat UA. UA is robust, firm,very strong. Max is tiny, short, and he is swooshed about the water by the currents. He just goes with the flow, smoothly, no fight to go any where, he just goes. Ua is like the rest of the healthy seals with strength, I watched her swimming off. She is magnificent. Max is the little boy, who needs more weight, but, he is gaining at a slow pace. We try hard to keep close watch on MAX. With Ua, she got this sassy look about her, she will be just fine. Both seals got much hooks, many nets to pass around...we always hope for the best with MAX, he seems so innocent, ya know?
Together, all of us looking can be the best thing for our seals...they need us. We all need to stick together and find the poor seal.
Yes that walk is a far walk, not hard, but yet, very hot, all sand. Not like Kaena Pt with rugged rocky parts, cliffs, etc. I think maybe this walk is a bit farther away...it took three full hours round trip as I said. The only stop was UA's visit. The rest is all walking.

June 15, 2011 at 5:42 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)