9/30/2010 Ua Malie gets de-hooked

The following information is posted with the permission of David Schofield, NOAA Fisheries, Protected Resources Division. The photos were taken by volunteer Heather and are being posted under NOAA/NMFS permit# 932-1905.  Please note these are professionals handling this animal only to remove a hook... no one under any circumstances should attempt this.   I want to thank Heather and David for allowing me to share the photographs showing this amazing process.... ~donna~

Aloha,
Just wanted to pass on the good news that Ua Malie was successfully dehooked today. Earlier this week, HMSRTO volunteers reported and provided excellent photo documentation of the hook and approximately 2 ft of trailing line.
Today the NOAA team captured and removed the 1/2" - 3/4" circle hook that was embedded in the seal's back. They waited 3 1/2 hours for her to haul out but it only took 1 min 55 seconds for the whole procedure.
Thank you to HMSRTO for reporting, documenting and assisting with the response effort! Great work team!!

Aloha,
Dera