Max in his usual snooze mode @ Nimitz ... with a rather large hook attached
wonder if its' like a toothache
Max hauls out at Campbells and meets up with Maka'iwi -
Hey what the hell is this thing hanging out of my mouth.
Holy crap its the men in blue!
Oh.. that feels better, thanks
Okay okay I'm going
Max's hook
The A-TEAM - GREAT WORK!!!
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3 comments:
Every day we search for Max, as he is a little guy, so innocent and sweet. Well, we been dreading this event, we could see it coming, as each weekend, we find tons of guys fishing, poles lined up just a few feet from each other...hoping to catch the big one. Well, they did, and no one said nothing. And for some reason, Max hauled out on Kermits Reef, which we never saw him there. It was good..at first, he seemed normal. But after a while, he was flapping about, not the Max I know. And then, I saw the sparkle of the wire leader a foot long. I ran down to get a better look. Oh my god, Its A HOOK!!!! I called NOAA right away. Gave a discription of set up and the location. But in the mean time, Max got washed off the REEF and headed towards Campbells. We watched him strugglin along his way at a high rate of speed. After we lost site, we drove to Campbells and checked all the spots. Just as we got to this one area, HE HAULED UP. AND...Makaiwi was already on shore snoozing. Max immediately dug into the sand with his snout, tossing his head all over, snorting. Trembling his body. Then he saw Makaiwi and galumphed over to her. He bumped her, several times..as if saying.."HELP ME, HELP ME, I got a hook!!" But Makaiwi found him annoying and then rolled into the water to our disappointment. We watched them frolicking, off shore, Makaiwi trying to dodge him and lose him. But Max kept at her. Called NOAA to say, seals in water. But, we aint letting this go, we will keep tabs on them until we cant see them any more. Close to NOON, we lost both seals. They were last seen heading west. NOAA team arrived. Dera and Keora with crowding board. I walked to next spot Max hauls out at. We wanted to see if he was there, but he wasnt. Noaa Vets, arrived..Cora and Francis Gulland!!! Wow...plus Charles Littnan, Chad Y. Since Max was gone, I showed Francis and Cora some other areas, down to Germains Luau..seals haul out here too. Then Rob called..Max is back. I ran as fast as i could. Charles went back to his car to get equipment. But once again, Max reentered the water, going to the fishermen who were fishing. I advised them, but THEY KEPT FISHING. Max reentered water again. Dera spotted him heading west, we all ran over to the campsite and there he came, alllll the way up to the tent and three dogs barking at him. NOAA team gathered, planned, went to Max, Captured him, took hook out.They set him free, and max stayed in one spot, JUST LOOKING, Breathing. NOAA then got him off to the water, Max finally left on his own and that was the last time he was seen today. Rob and I are relieved Max got his hook removed...most grateful to NOAA TEAM..Great work by all. Our Prayers to max...He is such a cute kid but already..we can see the problems he faces..humans, hooks, nets and dogs. Poor little fella...After, Rob went to car, I remained alone, hoping Max would show, but he never did. So we left area, on to SWQ for more searching..still no Max. By 5pm we gave up...My worries arent over...we will continue to find Max as much as possible...as usual, looking for those hooks. Thanks to all that helped...team work works!!! Good luck Max, we love you, hope to see ya in the am...Flipper hugs, kid. And as for Makaiwi, who knows where she ran off to, another spot we dont know about...one day, one day. we'll find it..THAT SECRET SPOT.
Aloha,
Once again the Billands are out there leading the charge of protecting our beloved monk seals.
Ron and I tagged along with them one day and we couldn't believe the efforts and miles they put in on a daily basis. They are amazing and once again they proved it again yesterday.
Of course there are many, many others who do a super job as well, but we really believe Barbara and Robert go above and beyond EVERYDAY!! Thank you for all the miles of searching, treks on the beach, community outreach, PHOTOS, and your continued love and desire to protect these beautiful animals.
MAHALO from the bottoms of these mainlanders hearts.
Taking words from the Whisperer--"YA DONE GOOD!!!"
Ron and Val :)
Wow thanks Val for that wonderful comment. You make us feel super great, your words touched our hearts and our soul. Sometimes being on the beach allll day long, every day, is difficult, but when we find a hooked seal, then we know why we are doing what we do. And being it was little fella...MAX R5EW, it was hell to observe him struggling. So little, not understanding, what was going on with his mouth and that hook. You could see his horror, and watching him keep leaving tore at our nerves. It was tuff to take, very stressful on us. But we tried so hard to keep track of his little body going at 60 miles an hour. I can not explain how we felt when we found him out there at his other spot. We just wanted to help him out!!! We wanted NOAA there NOW!!! He was here!!! Right NOW!!! To watch him leave sucked. But he kept coming back, he knew he needed help. Being he hauled up at Nimitz Reef, we could see the set up of the long steel leader dangling and sparkling...if he had been on sand, we may have not noticed. Any ways, every thing worked out great...No words can truly explain our feelings, the anxiety we felt, the fear if we didnt find him, knowing he could get caught in a rock, and maybe drown. Hey, its over, he is fine...I thanked the seal gods a gazillion times yesterday and now. Thanks for your comment again...you made our day!!! Hey, you will always be one of the greatest monk seal worriers to us..your work with seals was truly amazing too...that once a week walk to find all those critters was remarkable too. God bless val and ron..and YOU TOO DIANE!!!!!!! Hugs!!
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