I met my first HMS in February of 2008. My visiting Iowa buddies were staying in one of the large White Plains cabins which had very little beach frontage (I think #1761). The first morning they woke up a very large seal was directly out front. They were ecstatic and called me so I rushed over from Aiea. I noted the tag RS00 and called the Billands. I knew they could help because they knew so much about them which they had shared with me at their Maile Point whale count site. Jennifer Billand answered the phone and took down the info. She passed it on and I received a call back shortly from Barbara informing me that it was Ewa Girl! I had to go to work that week but my buddies were so enthralled that they barely left the cabin the whole week because Ewa Girl didn't move. My buddy, Rick, parked a chair with a cooler of beer a respectful (if not "official') distance from her and greeted all the passersby with her seal info (gender, name, what facts we knew). He became a Visiting Seal Ambassador.
Ewa Girl may have been pregnant at that time but I can't remember. I just know it was thrilling. I would rush over after work each day that week and there she was--so peaceful. I was moved spiritually. Ewa Girl finally slipped away from our tiny beach after about 5 wonderful days. I signed up right away and went to David Schofield's orientation at the Ewa Beach Library where, lo and behold--the Billands were signing up too as they weren't 'official' yet. The rest is history. I'm so happy Ewa Girl is still with us and procreating pups. I wouldn't change that experience for anything in the world.
Karen Banes
THANK YOU KAREN !!! AND yes she was pregnant.... because in April she gave birth to Kerby on Rabbit Island. Here is Kerby at 3 days old.
Ewa Girl Data: Female
ID# RS00 Flipper Tag Left: S00 & 1AO Right: S01 & 1AP
Born in 1992 in the NWHI - showed up on the Main Hawaiian Islands in 2000, had her 1st known pup 2007
Last seen in 2014
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2 comments:
At least Kirby is still with us and other Ewa girl offspring. So many wonderful people over the years. Robert and Barbara and DB always helpiing and slmost always there. So many really good people involved in this effort.
I remember that day Miss Karen.
Ewa Girl was known to us from 2007, thats why I filled you in about her history.
Yep we had been on the force with DB and Tracy from 2007...Tracy gave us a crash coarse at Zippys Kapolei and thats how we got started.
We had found Benny RE74 and Lona RE17 F2 Bleach, together on Maili Beach. We had watched them for two days. Thats how we got started with kids being mean to them, just laying there on shore. We contacted a our whale buddy who knew a DB Dunlap, the seal whisperer, who contacted us. We sent in our pics of the two seals and Db liked them alot and asked us to send in more photos of seals to him and he would post them...ON HIS BLOG. The rest is HISTORY.
Ewa Girl was gone from 2014, I think we were the last ones to document her and at the time we believed she was pregnant again at age APPROX 22 years old. We miss her dearly, I always felt, she was a REGAL LOOKING FEMALE.
If we were signing in must have been for pup watching in 2008..Four PUPS born that year, Kerby, KP 2, HOKU, and Kolohe. We chose to watch Hoku and at time3 Kolohe, but saw kerby on his first day of life at R.I with DB. And while there viewing the pup, he got caught on a rock, where D S and team went out to cut his umbilicus to free him, or he would have DROWNED.
Happy New Year .
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