December 31, 2023 123123 Dailies

There were no seals to report today, it seems Team R&B are under the weather and stayed home today. Which I say good, they deserve a break. Please send them well wishes for a healthy and happy 2024.

In closing out the year I know there has been more information on social media these days. I tend not to copy anything to the blog unless I know the source and have permission to do so.  Lets just say a couple of incidents this past month made the news and are being looked into. One being the stranded baby whale that some woman tried to mount and ride...... hmmmm.... I know.  The other was a group of kids entering a roped off zone where a seal was resting to take photos.  They were caught on camera.

I do believe there needs to be better education to visitors when they arrive. And they need to understand there will be consequences. 

One last comment from me, I would like to wish my seal mentor DB a happy heavenly birthday.  He will always be a part of my life and I am grateful all that he taught me, but more than anything bringing some of the most special people in my life.

Wishing you all a very healthy, safe and prosperous 2024!

 

December 30, 2023 Saturday's Dailies

Today was one of the rare times when there are no seals to report.  I'm sure they were out there but none of our posse reported any sightings.  Maybe the seals are getting ready for the New Year.

December 29, 2023 Friday's Dailies

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

They did their usual checks and wasn't having much luck. When they checked the bay they found the lovely Miss Kala RH76. She was alone and resting, with the exception of a crab that was bugging her. She jiggled and wiggled until the crab flew off.

Team R&B met a wonderful retired artist, who is staying on the islands for five months. She and her husband had sailed her, which is very cool. Team R&B introduced her to Kala and filled her in on our beloved monk seals.  The woman said she was writing a book of her journal and Kala will be in it.!!

Team R&B did see R3CX Nalu from afar. He was at the rest-camp cabins, snoozing and didn't move around at all.

The only other sighting they noted was a massive ship, a Survey ship called the Bold Explorer. You can put its size in perspective compared to the smaller boat.

RH76

R3CX

Bold Explorer survey ship

December 28, 2023 Thursday's Dailies

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

Team R&B was out checking out all the usual areas. All they saw were dolphins being followed by the boats as usual. They did see a couple breaching whales further out.

Finally a seal hauled up, it was Leina RL70, she was alone. 

Then Lei Ola RH48 landed. This made them extremely happy. They visually checked her over and did not see any new markers or wounds.

The dolphins were going bananas the entire time Team R&B were out there. They wondered if they were feeding noted by their behavior: gather together, making wakes as they swam swiftly on the surface then jumping into the air on top of each other. It was spectacular to see.

Oh yea they also found Mr. Kaale RH32. He was alone resting comfortably.

RH48

RL70

RH32

dolphins

December 27, 2023 Wednesday's Dailies

Todays dailies are brought to you by Team R&B, posse pal Liz on Molokai and yours truly.

A big Mahalo to Liz on Molokai who sent photos of an Oahu seal on Molokai.  It was our beautiful Right Spot R016 resting on a Molokai beach today.  So cool when we see how the seals move between the islands.

Diane and I viewed Rabbit Island late morning today and there were

only two seals during that time. There were lots of surfers off the island enjoying the waves.  The first seal we spotted was an Unknown Adult: adult size, clean newer coat, could not determine gender or if there were tags due to its position.

Then there was a Juvenile Male by the 3BS.Juvenile size, light yellowish male belly and could not see any tags.

Team R&B started their day at the bay, where Lei Ola had been run off by a dog yesterday. They were a little hesitant to go out, but it was good they did. Initially for the first hour they only saw whales.

Then the magic began, first they found RL70 Leina with RH76 Kala. Then Nalu R3CX was out front, and they had no idea where he came from. Lastly there was the site mascot RL20 Kalua up front and alone.  Today was a good day, certainly better than yesterday.

Next stop at Kahe they found RH32 Kaale. He was alone in the same spot as yesterday. They did not see any more seals, but did see more whales.

Right Spot on Molokai

Rabbit Island Unknown Adult

Rabbit Island Juvenile Male

RL70 & RH76

R3CX

RL20

RH32

whales

December 26, 2023 Tuesday's Dailies

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

They started their day at the bay and as they were walking they spotted an adult seal. It had a clean coat, one red tags and was hurrying away from the rocks. They weren't able to get an ID.

Then they heard a dog barking loudly, so they ran over to see what was happening. There was a brown dog from the homeless camp off leash barking at RH48 Lei Ola.  Lei Ola was scurrying on the rocks to get away from the dog.  A woman with the dog was in the pond and never attempted to keep the dog away from the seal.

Lei Ola entered the water before she started barking back at the dog, mouth wide open. Team R&B was trying to piece together what was happening and witnessed Lei Ola fighting back and entering the water.

Of course this was stressful especially since Lei Ola lost her pup from a dog attack. There was another woman there who had been watching told them the dog didn't bite the seal.  

Also at the bay they saw RL20 Kalua foraging alone by the wall. In the morning he never landed.

Later in the afternoon they found RL20 was alone on the rocks, there were no dogs in the area at that time.

At another west side location they found RW02 PvKauai alone at seal inlet.

Then they spotted two more seal in the water interacting, probably playing and fighting. They got the tag shots of RM31 and his brother RP30 Puka. The two of them came up to lower rocks, but never landed. As quick as they were there, then they were gone.

Lastly at Kahe they found RH32 Kaale. He was alone resting on the rocks.

RH48

RL20 am

RL20 pm

RW02

RM31 & RP30

RM31

RP30

RH32