Once again an amazing day in the adventures of Team Billand..... So glad they were able to locate Kekoa and get a team out there so quickly. We know he was fine on Saturday, so sometime between Saturday afternoon and Tuesday morning he found a "band" (looks like one of those shipping bands) and decided he wanted to jump through hoops. You can see in the first couple of photos he is extremely curious. I am hoping Barb will fill us in on the event... what I would like to know... did you find him on the birthing beach?
Kekoa and his fashion accessory
As bad as this looks this little one seems clueless.
In all seriousness, this type of debris is killing our wild life. What is also amazing is his flippers didn't get caught.... I don't mean to be Debbie downer, but I am just realizing how lucky we are it turned out the way it did.
Operation Band Removal accesses the situation
Sean takes a closer look, guess Kekoa doesn't mind. (So good to see Sean back in Hawaii)
The band ... the belt without a buckle
Dangerous debris
The Band Team! THANK YOU!!
Dera, Robert, Aileen, Sean, Mark and Shawn
Dera, Robert, Aileen, Sean, Mark and Shawn
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We had been looking for Kekoa Alii and to our disappointment, he wasnt home at the Birth Spot. SO, we made use of our two hours by scouting the beaches at each gate and to our shock, found so much netting and ropes. We dragged it all to one gate, as we werent allowed to take it OUT of the gate.
We went back and forth, looking for seals, no luck.
11:25am Eileen and her eagel eyes spots a seal. I look intently at Kekoa Alii and something attached to his fat body. I yelled at Eileen and Rob.."KEKOA HAS SOMETHNG WRAPPED AROUND HIS BODY!!!" I was a bundle of nerves and called Dera immediately. She asked if it was a hook attached, NO, just a band of some sort around the belly just passed his foreflippers!!! Looks like a giant zip tie!!
Dera got a team together and they were on their way to site. No not the birthing site, another gate.
We watched Kekoa Alii intently, and the little guy picked up various junk from MAN. A shoe, a ball, driftwood, sticks, and things we couldnt ID.
But it was a band we were worried about that was squishing his belly so tightly. He kept swimming closer to us and we could see like a packing strap that he somehow wiggled through. Oh my gosh, NOAA, please hurry, as Kekoa hauls out at 12:05 pm. He heads up close to the rocks, not a beach he goes to. 12:30pm NOAA arrives with Shawn F. Saun M, Dera look, and Mark Sullivan. NOAA assesses situation, sees the band, walks to Kekoa, touches his belly with no reaction. SHawn F. gets his tool out, SNAPS the band in half..Kekoa has no response, other than rolling a bit and falling a sleep. We can see the indentation in his fat belly. THANK YOU NOAA!!!! YOU ARE ANGELS OF THE SEALS!! Relief!!
But wait, remember we got lots of netting and ropes we found. I ask Dera if team could please remove it all. Well, we drove to site of the other gate, Noaa removed all our crap, plus, they also took the stuff we couldnt get out our selves. Oh my gosh..TWO JOBS IN ONE DAY!!!!!!! I want to thank SHAWN F, Saun M, Dera, Mark and Eieleen the security who looks out for Kekoa, a real seal angel.
Oh and to Rob, my best friend who is there for me and the seals. God bless all you fine people who care.
JOBS done..we bid each other farewell and we were out of their. But, I did stop to say good bye to Kekoa and wish him safe journey. He was fast a sleep...THANK HEAVENS!!!!!!!!! I so love Happy Endings.
Aloha, I sent my dear friend Barbara a note this morning thanking her and Robert for their efforts. I would like to suggest we give them a new title...MSA--which stands for "Monk Seal Angels". The dedication these two put forth continues to amaze me. The seals and us are fortunate to have these loving folks out there helping mother nature.
So I here by dub Barbara and Robert Billand the first MONK Seal Angels and challenge all of us to follow their lead. Cheers for the Billands.
Thank you sweet Val of Nebraska, aka, Molokai Queen!!!!!!!
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