MonkSealMania.blogspot.com: 1/17/2018 Monk Seal Dailies:

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

1/17/2018 Monk Seal Dailies:

Today's dailies are brought to you by Team Billand and Posse Pal Gayle on this very very windy day.

Gayle spotted what looked like two adults at Rabbit Island. Gayle also found Right Spot R016 on her last check at Sandys. She left her at 18:20.

From the west side today Team Billand watched some dolphins in the waters, lots of boats and lots of swimmers. Such a shame, these animals come in to rest and all the tour groups go out there and disrupt them. I know it's very appealing because they're such magical critters, but once you know they are resting it just seems mean.

Team Billand found Pohaku R028 foraging off shore near Campbells doing 7 to 10 minute dives. Despite the choppy surf they were able see the markers on her head and side belly to get an ID. Funny just yesterday Barbara was mentioning she hadn't seen her in a bit, and here she is today, I love when that happens!

Team Billand came across Benny RE74 on shore with some signs already around him. They didn't see any volunteers around but there was this one guy in the zone taking photos of Benny. Barbara did say something to him about staying behind the signs rather than in front of the signs. It's very unfortunate when people feel they need to bend the rules. It's one thing when there are no signs, or you don't know the rules, but when there is clearly something posted or you been around for awhile, there is no excuse. Let seals be!

Saving the best for last with much delight Team Billand found five seals. Four all lined up together

and one on it's own higher up. The fantastic four were ID'd as Ka'ale RH32, Kolohe RW22, Kalani RN14, and PvKauai RW02 all side by side about 5 feet apart sleeping peacefully. The lone critter off on it's own a little harder to see was finally ID'd as Kekoa RK72.

** RN14 "Kalani (beloved one) - I received an email recently suggesting RN14 deserves to be named and this has been something in the works for a bit. That volunteer group and NOAA were notified and there no interest was shared. So to honor this request, I will refer to RN14 as Kalani (beloved one). Works for me.

2 Rabbit Island Critters