Marilyn viewed Rabbit Island from 11:15 to 2 and only had one critter on island today.
For the first hour she did not see any seals at all. Then just before 12:30 she saw a seal near one of the rocks along the waterline of LPB. She is labeling it S/F: juvenile to subadult size, two red tags, and yellowish gray female belly. Marilyn did not see any other identifying markers. She also thinks this seal is a little smaller than RK24 and RK37, but then again hard to tell when they not next to each other.
Marilyn has been been checking out other spots along the south east side but hasn't seen any critters in any of the locations.
Team R&B started their day at the outfall. They saw an adult seal with a green snout foraging in and outof the outfall area and beyond. They could not make an ID and then they lost sight of the critter. She did not a mark on top left lip, like it was from a hook or something. Seal was reported as Unknown Adult.
Team R&B met up with Melina at a site. They saw a seal and hurried over to find a dry, fat, female. It was R413 who was in this location yesterday. Well it turns out Melina met her last year. In fact R413 has only been seen on Oahu a couple of times and was originally seen on Kauai. There is much that is unknown about her she doesn't have tags and does have a large scar across her chest. Today Melina came up with a name Makamae, which means precious one. Team R&B and Melina talked about it, talked with Auntie and a friend from Nihau. So it seems Makamae is a good fit for this precious one. I love when people work together for the benefit of the seals, everyone sharing and coming up with a solution. Ya done good !!!
Okay they called the hotline to inform them, also it was a busy beach. They waited and did their best to keep people back and did some education. Makamae started to roll in the sand and ended being totally covered, a little shake and bake.
While looking out over the ocean and watching over R413 Makamae, they spotted Kekoa Alii RK72coming in fast. Once he saw her he took his time and approached her slowly. She probably tried to camouflage herself with all the sand. Kekoa Alii stayed with her, without any drama.
They called the hotline again. A volunteer came with signs, so Team R&B left after everyone settled in.
They headed over to another busy shoreline to check. There on the rocks was RN14 Kalani alone and snoozing. They put up signs and educated people who came by. They called the hotline.
Posse pal Amy came by to relieve Team R&B as they had an appointment today.
After their appointment they decided to recheck on Makamae and Kekoa Alii. When they arrived they were really disappointed to see all the people right by the seals. Paying absolutely no attention to the signs and unfortunately no volunteer.
They headed over to another west side location and initially saw nothing, not even a sign of a critter.
Then out of nowhere, there was RP84 Pe'ekai galumphing up on upper rocks. The surf had got to him and he was on the move.
Last stop was at the bay. Again they didn't say any seals, so they said some prayers for peace, good health, for seals and people. They turned to see a seal on the rocks. There was RL20 Kalua snoozing and just fine. He was by himself and probably napping after stuffing himself.
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