Okay heres' the weirdest news coverage of Hawaiian monk seals I've seen... we have 31 seconds of filming of Irma... who was mistakenly identified as Rocky. Would love to know the story behind the story.
http://www.khon2.com/content/news/developingstories/story/Hawaiian-monk-seal-spotted-in-Waikiki/Eo2hQ1KG00uL0aeWkAPyoA.cspx
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9 comments:
Who is the man who walks up to IRma??????????
I think this volunteer might need a refresher training course or at least use better common sense....
I'm pretty sure the volunteer didn't see the man approach Irma.
read it in the morning paper.....whole nother story
Yeah, I tell ya people sneak into protection zones when you least expect it. Refesher course or not, good volunteer, great volunteer, it happens to the best of us. It's just jaw dropping sometimes the actions of our fellow citizens.
Seinfeld said "People are the worst" and I can't agree more!
It just doesn't matter how hard you try to protect these seals there is always some amazing uneducated person pushing the limit.
If that was a volunteer that walked up to Irma, I just wanted to say we all make mistakes. We are all excited to get an ID of a seal or to make sure it is not injured in any way. Sometimes in the excitment we may forget the best of our training. All in all we just want to go out there and do a good job at volunteering. Volunteering is not easy but it is rewarding. I learn something new everytime we go out there to protect the seals, something new about people and something new about the seals, something new about our own behavior. That's what makes us better volunteers. So we have all now learned from this experience. Stay out side the zone, use binoculars and set a good example for others and most of all always consult our very own monk seal coordinator if in doubt:)
The evening news (12/13) on Channel 3 ran a very nice story and video. Can't imagine why the maverick, unofficial video was even mentioned on the blog. The story behind the story I heard was that ID was difficult due to sand covering most of the distinguishing marks and that even DB could not confirm the ID until later.
The reason this was on the blog- is because I posted it thinking it was the footage that aired. I personally did not see the news broadcast, as I was working. I found out this afternoon there was different footage that actually aired.
In the meantime this is a good lesson in what to do and what not to do. As a volunteer it is critical you are in communication with either the response coordinator, NOAA office or someone who can help you. It is critical you communicate with them as well as the public. Since there was a volunteer there.... and they didn't know who this person was, just speaks to lack of communication.
As a volunteer you should never approach an seal that close regardless of where the SPZ is...
I don't know this gentleman, and I don't know the whole story... but if we're having this discussion you can only imagine what the general public thinks.
As someone who cares very much about HMSRTO - I do care about the impression volunteers give the public. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw this footage. I did think about not posting it.... but then again it's on KHON's website.... I just posted a link.
Bottomline.... when you a volunteer are responding to a call it is more important you obey the guidelines. If a positive ID was required... It would have been made later when the photos were examined. It's done all the time.
Perhaps one of the qualifications needs to be binoculars, or telephoto camera lens...????
If anyone needs further explanation I will be happy to discuss this off line.
Every once in a while something like this will happen- that is why training of volunteers is so important, and even then, some people will still do things they should not- this guy happened to get caught- a good lesson for all the volunteers out there, you never know who will be around, so always try to follow procedure...
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