04/28/2020 Stay-At-Home (36) Our Hearts are Heavy with Another Loss

And just like that we have another beloved female seal gone too soon. I am including the link to the The Garden Island story that broke early this morning. 
AND I am posting in our pal Val's own words her experience and memory of R313.  
https://www.thegardenisland.com/2020/04/28/hawaii-news/another-dead-monk-seal/


Went looking for a Friend

This past Sunday the coconut wireless was active, I received a text inquiring about my knowledge of a possible dead seal on the North shore of Kauai.  I quickly replied that I wasn't aware of anything, but not surprised of no notification due to the Stay-Home order we are under.  **All Seal Volunteers are on stand down orders at the current time.  Dialed up the coconut wireless and asked if more information was available. Further information told me the seal was untagged and large and they were working on IDing the seal.   That news only told me who the seal wasn't....

Fast forward to Monday....grateful that our exercise on the beach restriction was lifted so that I could hike to my favorite spot.  I was hoping that I would find my friend, who has been absent for several of my recent hikes. It wasn't uncommon for me to not see her every time I went out, she was a bit of a mystery seal.  She was first sighted in 2009 and was believed to be approximately 4 years old at that time, so with that timeline, she would be around 15--not young, but definitely not old!!

My first encounter with her was in 2014, she had some interesting ID markers--but no tags.  She would try my patience as I sat and waited for what seemed like hours for her to move an inch so I could see her scars. Just as I was about to give up on an ID she'd flop over and give me the needed markers.  I would smile, snap the photos and tell her I'd catch her next time. Whether she would be there the next time was totally up to her. 

A couple years ago, I was asked who was my favorite seal--well that's a loaded question given my extensive time with KP2, love that goofball but my response was R313.  She wasn't famous like other seals (Rocky, Pohaku, Kp2 or Honey Girl) she was just seal that showed up, usually solo.  To my knowledge she was never hooked or even seriously injured. She just was....  The past few summers I would watch as her belly grew, then she went missing.  Eight weeks  later she'd reappear back at her spot, just thinner.  Guessing she made her way to Niihau to pup, bet she was a great momma. 

Back to Monday, I was at her spot when I got the official notice that our deceased seal was R313.  My heart sank, tears filled my eyes. Too many seals have passed away in the last couple weeks--I only hope that some of R313's offspring are female and will make their way to Kauai to add to the HMS population. 

The worst part of the news was R313 was pregnant, so we not only lost a great momma, but a pup as well.  Needless to say I'm sad...

Sharing a couple photos--one is her pretty face and the other is the overview of her spot. 

Be well.   Val :)