MonkSealMania.blogspot.com: 7/20/2018 Monk Seal Dailies (part 1) RH32, RH48,RW02, RN14, 1KT, RK24

Friday, July 20, 2018

7/20/2018 Monk Seal Dailies (part 1) RH32, RH48,RW02, RN14, 1KT, RK24

Today's dailies are brought to you by Team Billand, Lesley, Tammy & me. Lesley's complete Ka'ena Update is part two of the dailies.

Tammy & I went out on the south east side to check out RK24 and whatever else we might find. Our original plan was to check out Rabbit Island, but because of schedule conflicts I wasn't able to pick up the scope. So Tammy and I went with plan B. Upon arriving we met up with Gayle who was hanging out with her grandkid RK24. He was hanging his head in the tide pools, then try to catch something and move onto the next tide pool. He has a unique style of fishing/foraging.
Tammy and I walked over to the lagoon (where Right Spot had been) and we saw a couple of large turtles but no seals. We headed back.

On our way out just before the parking lot we met up with volunteer Whitney who was looking for a seal that had been reported. She said it was by the jetty, the only thing that came to mind was the lagoon, so Tammy and I walked back with her and carefully checked the area. Tammy showed us a picture and we were able to determine the location was closer to Pele's chair. With Gayle's help she was able to direct us to the location. Whitney headed out to head out on the trail, and Tammy and I went to our car. We drove up the road, and took a shortcut through one of the the trails. We got to the waters edge and found a young male, with a "c" scar on his lower belly. Tammy checked out his tags and confirmed 1KT/T37. He was in an isolated area, and no one was around. As we turned we saw Whitney approaching, so we whistled over to her and pointed out where he was. She was able to call it in. Good team work had by all !

Team Billand was out long before we were and checking on Ka'ale at his breakfast buffet. He had been foraging as usual. Until one for the fishermen decided to use live bait, and dropped his line. Well NO SURPRISE, Ka'ale went for it, gave the guy a fight, (the fisherman didn't know what he had on the line) Team Billand let him know what was happening, and help guided him as to how to reel the line to keep butthead from swallowing the hook. Finally, there it was an eaten fish, line and hook. All were relieved. Robert spent some time explaining, what to do and not to do, the guy threw the eaten fish back in the water, and Ka'ale ate it. Then decided to stop fishing for the large fish using live bait. Team Billand stuck around for a bit and left Ka'ale foraging while they went to check on other areas.

On a recheck they found Ka'ale hauled out at a nearby beach. They noticed he had company and he was reunited with his buddy RN14 Kalani. They were both on the rocks, Kalani nose bumping Ka'ale. Ka'ale responded to Kalani's multiple nose bumps with a tail slap. Good to see the boys hanging out together.

Team Billand headed out to Ka'ena West, they found Lei Ola RH48 and PvKauai RW02 on the rocks, a little bit in the water holes. They were both snoozing in peace. Lei Ola looks plump, healthy and alert. RW02 was in his glory having her to himself relaxing.

RK24