The morning began with a call from Warren at 0530 reporting Rocky (RH58) at White Plains Beach. She was ID'ed by the scar over her left eye and natural bleach on her left fore flipper. Rocky may have overnighted. At 0906 HPD called with a report of a seal in Kaaawa. North Sector Manager Don responded but found no seal present. Another call came in at 0906 from Carola at the Mokuleia pup site. She reported that Nihoa (R912) and pup were not in the SPZ when she arrived for her shift at 0800. Mom and pup hauled out about 2/10 of a mile to the east. Carola checked back in at 1300 with a report of a seal and dog interaction. Kathleen was on duty when she saw a woman walking her dog along the beach unleashed. The dog approached Nihoa while she was outside of the SPZ. Based on the observations made by volunteers it is believed that Nihoa bit the dog. There were no apparent injuries to Nihoa and pup and it is unknown if the dog has suffered any injuries.
As a reminder please keep all dogs on a leash. Monk seals can injure dogs if they feel threatened or are attacked. Contact between seals and dogs may transmit diseases that can be dangerous to both the dog and the entire seal population.
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ReplyDeleteSpeaking from experience on a shift when a man and dog got close to the SPZ last year...when I asled the man to please put the dog on a leash as there was a seal right there and a toddler amd mother sitting on the said. He yelled out all kinds of things like he hopes his dog attacks the seal, told me how dare you help "that" (speakimg about the seal), then lept threatening he was gping to eat the seal. Not always can trained volunteers stop a dog pr humam with dog from getting to a seal. It is not as easy as t seems. The police have a hard time as well.So glad seal and pup are okay. People need to keep their dogs dar from seals.
ReplyDeleteResponse to first comment according to HMMA policy:
ReplyDeleteDo the best you can and remember your role as a volunteer (i.e you are not an
enforcement officer and it is not worth getting into a confrontation…walk
away and report the incident to a manager).
If a minor agreement is reached, that is a good first step. Also, it is acceptable
to disagree and move on.
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