11/30/2020 Monday Monk Seal Dailies

 Today's dailies are brought to you by Team Billand.  At 7 am Team Billand found Kaale RH32 at the outfall. Good news he did not steal fish while they were there. They waited hoping he would haul out, but gave up and headed to the next stop. There they found Kekoa Alii RK72 hauled out snoozing on his side. He was alert, kept looking at the ocean. Team Billand thought another seal might be close by, but there were no seals.

At 8:40 Team Billand arrived at the bay and spotted RL20 Kalua . He

was pretty much hidden and it took some time to confirm his ID, but they finally did get the tag shot.

At 10 am they spotted two seals playing in the bay. One was RN44 and the other much to their surprise was N4 Kai.

The last critter they found was just before 12:30 at another west side location.  R3CX was hidden in the rocks. It took some effort but they were able to make the ID.

Kaale RH32

Kekoa Alii RK72

RL20 Kalua

How can that be comfortable?

RN44

N4 Kai

R3CX Nalu

11/29/2020 Marilyn's Rabbit Island Update

 I viewed Rabbit Island from Makai Pier from 11:45 am to 2:00 pm.  There was sunshine, wind and several rain showers that drove me indoors.

I saw 8 HMS on RI today, one only very briefly.  I'll report them as usual from the Lanikai to the Makapuu end of the island.

Near 3BS were:

Subadult Female 1 (SAF1): subadult size, lighter female belly, 2 tags and a newish coat.

Subadult Female 2 (SAF2): initially she was up in the morning glory, but moved down later.  Subadult size, lighter female belly, newish coat and 2 tags.  SAF1 and SAF2 appear to be of similar size and age.  Could they be RK37 and RK38?

About 50 feet further Makapuu was:

Unknown Adult Male (UAM): Adult size, darker gray male belly, newer coat and at least one tag.

Unknown Male Weaner (UMW): weaner size, lighter male belly with some green, no tags.  I'm

guessing this is PO1.

RM90/N5: small weaner size, light female belly, 2 tags and N5 bleach (did not show in photos.

Unknown Female Weaner (UFW): large weaner size, no tags, light female belly, possible N2 bleach on rear right side.  If so, this is N2 Nohea.

Briefly at RRB was an adult seal that I think was RW22 Kolohe by size and coloration, but I never saw the belly or his nb.  He was only seen for about a minute and when I looked back he was gone.

Unknown Unknown (UU): hauled out about noon at far right of RRB. I think this was a juvenile, but I never got a full view.  The seal had a very light belly which shows as a white blur in my photos.

11/29/2020 Sunday Monk Seal Dailies

 

Today's dailies are brought to you by Team Billand.  I know Marilyn observed Rabbit Island today and had a whopping eight seals. Unfortunately Marilyn is having internet issues so we may not get her update until tomorrow.  

On a side note I would like to personally (and I am sure many of you join me) wishing Marilyn aka Mrs. Whisperer a very Happy Birthday.  Wish we could go and celebrate, wish I could give you a big hug, but all that will wait until we are in the clear.  Seems the seals were having a party on Rabbit Island celebrating for all of us that can not.

Team Billand started their day by heading straight to the bay. At 7 am they spotted RL20 Kalua on the

rocks in a sound sleep and he was alone. His fishing line was easily seen, and still can not see a hook. He remained on the rocks all during their visit.

At 8 am they noticed two more seals fighting/playing ocean side of the bay. It was R3CX and Lei Ola RH48, they were going at it for a long time. R3CX finally gave up and landed about 9 on the rocks. He looks to be in excellent condition and was very alert.  

Lei Ola was very vocal, mouth wide open, and that is when Team Billand noticed another seal. Turns out RN44 was there, no wonder why Nalu decided to haul out. Lei Ola was being cuddled by RN44 and then she was vocal. He was vocal and they would fight, and then hold onto each other. Question is were they being lovey dovey or just fighting. Will see sometime in 2021. Lei Ola threw her hind flippers in the air above the surface to get away. 

Team Billand had to leave for a bit and retuned at 1 pm. They found RN44 snoozing on the rocks by RL20 Kalua. They did not see Lei Ola again. There were the three boys, Nalu on his own, RN44 and RL20 were close together.

Team Billand arrived at another west side location and noticed there is a new sign, DO NOT FEED

THE SEALS. Good, but what do you do if the seal steals your catch. (Ka'ale???)   They spotted Kekoa Alii RK72 being "visited" by tourist, so he went into the water, over to high rock and hauled out again.  He seemed agitated, galumphed over the rocks to the other end and finally settled. RL70 Leina was hidden away in the middle area. Luckily she did a flipper flex and Team Billand confirmed her ID. 

At 2 pm they found Kaale RH32 alone with lots of folks on shore. He suddenly looked up as if he was responding to something, stared at the water and rolled his way down to the water and took off. 

RL20 Kalua

Nalu

Lei Ola RH48

Lei Ola and RN44

RN44

RN44 and RL20 Kalua

Kekoa

RL70 Leina

Kaale RH32