10/9/2010 Busy Day at Turtle Bay

(Auntie Diane finds Lona, 5AY beginning her molt and Ua Malie)

Lona

R5AY

Ua Malie

And a little more from Auntie Karen Rohter
Ua Malie had just hauled out, according to Diane, before I got to her usual site by about 11:30. At 1:40 she ambled down to the surf line and began nosing around and playing with something there for 10 minutes. When I inspected it after she left, it was a 2 mm thick copper wire coiled at the end. I tried pulling it out, but no luck, and was unable to feel the other end in the sand. Has this been seen before?
After that, she began foraging very close to shore right in the surf zone as she meandered toward Turtle Bay, and definitely was finding food. I'm wondering if the surge and turbulent waters of the surf zone provide camouflage to make it easier for this pup to sneak up on prey.

Lona was still snoozing in her roped- off area a short distance from TB at 3pm.