December 31, 2021 A New Year and An Old Friend

I can't finish the year without wishing our beloved DB aka Seal Whisperer, A Happy Heavenly Birthday!

He will always be a part of this blog and forever be a part of my monk seal ohana. I know there are many many lives he touched and everyone has their loving memories of him.  I am sure if you closed your eyes and pretended you just called him, you can hear his voice "DB Here"  

I often refer to the friendships that have been made through the years watching over the seals. The passion, the knowledge, the fun of learning about the seals came from my Sensei.

In this post I am also including video that was shared with me on social media. I know for a fact DB would have been tickled to view this.  So my friend this is for you!

 The footage was taken by Helge Weissig while diving with Michele Aloha Way.  Thank you for sharing this amazing footage and turning it into an educational piece. 

12/31/2021 Friday Monk Seal Dailies

Todays dailies are brought to you by Team R&B💕  Lesley's special New Year wish is part 2 of the dailies.

Team R&B had to take care of some personal things today, so they were out very early and didn't stay out long. They only found two seals.

First there was RG28 Lefty snoozing alone on the rocks today.
Next they found RN14 Kalani hauled out on shore. He didn't stay there long, and would soon depart.
Lastly they did see whales today.

Team R&B wishes you all a very very Happy New Year to All!

RG28 Lefty

RN14 Kalani

12/31/2021 (part 2) Happy New Year Wish from Lesley

 KG54 Huaka'i showed up today to join me to wish you all a Happy New Year!

More in 2022 - Be Safe 

12/30/2021 Thursday Monk Seal Dailies

Todays dailies are brought to you by Team R&B💕

Team R&B were out checking out different locations when they spotted a seal leaving the outfall. They were at a distance but the seal had a bleach mark on right side. They weren't sure who it was to make an ID.

That's when they got a call there were three seals on beach at another location. They headed over and found RG28 Lefty. They put the signs out, but did not use ropes as they were not staying. They did spend a little time educating people who came by before they left the site.

Heading out to another location they spotted two seals hauling up. They made their way over and found RL12 Aukai to the right and R3CX Nalu to her left. They were settled in and snoozing. Nalu's shark bite was visible.

While watching over these two they spotted another seal hauling up from afar. They took the time and trekked all the way over to find two people getting close to the seal. Team R&B did their best to get their attention, when the woman began talking to the seal and bending down in front of it for her insta-gram photo. (dam!!!) The guy saw

Team R&B frantically waving to move away, so the couple left the area.  Team R&B ID'd Kaale RH32 as the seal, they made a stick zone and left the area.

They returned to check on Aukai and as they arrived there were two dogs running after a ball. The dogs got really close to Aukai. Team R&B hurried over but the brown and white dog approached Aukai and started to sniff her shoulders.  Thankfully the owner saw, called the dogs, you can imagine how frantic Team R&B were. They did their best to set a zone for Aukai and Nalu, with the help of one of the women put up signs, and an orange flag. 

Its very discouraging after years of trying to educate people. I give Team R&B a lot of credit for their big hearts that keep them going out there day after day.

They called the hotline, no one came, at least while they were there.

Last stop they saw a fisherman fishing near to where a seal was hauled out on the rocks. Although he was close, there was no disturbance and the seal was resting. They ID'd RW02 PvKauai, with all three tags. Turns out the fisherman was an old friend of theirs. They headed home after this, and the rains came.  Going to be a wet end to 2021.

U/U

RG28 Lefty

Aukai

R3CX Nalu

RH32 Kaale

RW02

12/29/2021 Wednesday Monk Seal Dailies

Todays dailies are brought to you by Marilyn, Melody and Team R&B💕

Marilyn viewed Rabbit Island from 12:40 to 2:05 and there were five seals on island today.

Near each other on LPB were:

A/M #1 - subadult to adult size, newer coat, gray male belly and unsure about tags.

U/S - subadult size, lighter ventral (unknown gender), scar on right side. At first Marilyn thought maybe it was RK24 but after several flipper flexes she never saw any tags.

Lanikai side of the 3BS was:

A/M #2 - large adult size, male belly, very old coat with molting starting on the upper chest area, and no tags. The molt is no more than 5%.  Marilyn once again notices what looks like some sort of scar above/around the right nostril. It will be interesting to see what it looks like when he's complete with his molt. A/M #2 started on the waterfront rocks, then went up into the dunes, only to come back down to the shoreline.

Makapuu side of the 3BS was:

A/M #3 - subadult to adult size, yellowish-gray male belly and at least one tag on the RRF.

Near SRI was:

U/J - juvenile size, light belly, (unknown gender) and no visible tags.

While Team R&B were searching for seals, a couple of their friends at the site yelled out "aunty seal passing".  They looked to the right and it was RN14 Kalani passing by. Even in the water his new beautiful applied bleach was visible. RN14 kept going until they lost site of him.

Then from afar they spot two seals landing on shore at a beach close by. There were two men near the

two seals.

Team R&B hurried over to the site and upon arrival they ID'd R407 Kawika and Nalu R3CX.  The woman who has been taking upon herself to keep an eye on the seals helped make a zone for the seals. Team R&B noted that Nalu's shark bite was very visible and he appears to be doing just fine. 

They went back to the other site and now found RN14 hauled out on the rocks. While watching over RN14, Lefty RG28 arrived and hauled out near him. Lefty did not stay long, he left heading towards PC.

At another west side location they found four seals snoozing on the rocks. RL70 Leina was hauled out on lower rocks. Little dude RL20 Kalua was mid high rocks. PvKauai RW02 was also hauled out along with RH76 Kala. 

Team R&B saw lots of whales today, which brings them much joy like the seals.

Melody started out early morning went to a couple of beaches but no seals, however she did find signs and rope. So she gathered up everything and put them back where they belong. 

She received a text about two seals, so she headed over to the site. She found R407 Kawika and R3CX Nalu snoozing.  There was a zone of sticks and signs and people were being respectful.  

Melody got another text and that is when she met up with Team R&B. They found a few seals at a couple of spots. 

Melody decided to head home after lunch but of course stopped to check a few spots. She found RG28 Lefty and RL12 Aukai on two different beaches but not far from each other. Melody stayed and did some education and outreach. She helped set up the SRA made sure they were all settled in. After that she headed home after a great seal day.

Rabbit Island

RN14 swimming by

Two seals with two guys

R3CX

R407

Kawika and Nalu

RG28 Lefty and RN14 Kalani

Lefty

Kalani

RH76

RL20

RL70

RW02

Whales 

RG28 Lefty

RL12 Aukai