June 4, 2023 (part 2) A Report from Lesley

Its been a bit since we heard from Lesley on the blog, I know she's real busy and had an official reporting structure she goes through.  Having said that I'm thrilled she took the time to update us:

Aloha 

It has been a longtime since I have sent a report for the blog.

Thank you, dear readers, for the kind words and concern. I assure you, all is well.

The main reason I had to stop writing was the conflict with work. I still document the seals daily and send individual reports to NOAA. The amount of seals has increased on this side and I was spending to much time on the computer after work.

The past couple of weeks there's been from 10 up 16 seals a day.

I'm breaking my "rules" by sharing some news since the "cat is out of the hat", "beans have been spilt", "coconut wire is on fire" and the PUParazzis have landed...the truth shall be known.

On May 3^rd RL42 Leia gave birth to PO6 a lovely little female nicknamed "Kiele" (Gardenia) today D32

On May 6^th RN58 Luana gave birth to PO7 another lovely little female nicknamed "Maylea" (Wildflower) today D29

We have had many new documented seals on the rock as well as many visitors from outer islands. Some spent months with us, some hang around but go back to their rock to give birth, some swim around the island to visit other sites and come right back. Some are tagged so we know who they are and where they come from, many are not and we will never know where they came from.

These non-tagged seals need to be documented a couple of times before they get their permanent cohort. There's a lot of searching on the database to double check if they have been sighted previously, etc.

We were repeatedly told "we don't name monk seals", so that's why they have nicknames. Some seals even have different nicknames on different islands and even on the same island. The important information is that when they are documented it's by their official cohort.

Nicknames are given mostly for outreach purposes, usually Hawaiian names. A tradition kept around here is giving the nicknaming honor to the person that first sights the seal or sees the birth.

For example: 

-Birth locations: Nihoa, Ka'ena, Kaiwi, Molokai, Irma, Ewa Girl. Kaimana

-Tradition: When Nihoa gave birth for the first time I chose to nickname all her daughters and granddaughters with flower related names Leia, Luana, Napua, Kiele and Maylea. The males were to be ocean relate Ka'ale, Puna, Kalua, Kai, Puka and Mauna

-Named after people: Lina, Kami, Kawika, Kiane 

-Scars or body marks: Lefty, Akau, Right Spot, Rocky (because of her green eyes that looked like a racoon our DB kept signing Rocky Racoon song) 

-Some were personal work nicknames that just stuck: BanBanSquarePants, PVKauai (Permanent Visitor from Kauai was to long to write), Squinty, Momona

Many other inspirations along the years.

Some of the new and other seals are:

R416 (M) "Makalii" - Constellation of Pleiades because of one of the scars on his chest. He has just turned into a juvenile

R418 (F) "Kamea" - Precious one. Juvenile

R606 (M) "Akau" - The Right. Has NB on digit of RFF. Sub Adult

R617 (M) " Kimo" - The Family Torch Bearer also know as a Temp "420" first sighted on April 20th

R407 (M) "Kawika" - David. Was here most of last year, moved around went MIA and came back for sporadic visits. Has a scar on his eye

R604 (F) "Kiane" - Diane. Spent long periods here and added several CC scars while visiting us. Has a unique scar on the top of her head

RM36 (F) "Kalea" - Flower wreath. She has been around often and needed a nickname for outreach

RK42 (F) "Kaia" - Sea. Visitor from Kauai has been visiting our shores for the males delight. She might return home with a bun in the oven

RJ40 (F) " 'E'ena" - Shy, timid. spent long periods with us. This year got nice & round and went home to Molokai to give birth to her 1^st pup

RL74 (F) "Kami" - Tammy She is one of the Molokai weaners that showed up in Oct/Nov 2019. Recently did a trip to Kauai and came back fast

RL70 (F) "Leina" - Leina rock She is the other Molokai weaner that showed up in Oct/Nov 2019.

RL98 (F) "Lina" - Marilyn . She showed up in Oct/Nov 2019 with the Molokai girls but wasn't tagged, she looked was a little younger definitely a weaner that's why she has a "L" cohort.

RL08 (M) "BanBanSquarePants" - He was the weaner with the biggest girth measure. He has been here for a couple of weeks, is green as a Kermit and has several CCscars

RL47 (M) "Kamakana" - was a frequent flyer last year

RM31 (M) "Kai" - comes "home" to this side of the island frequently for a visit

RQ24 (M) "Mauna" - comes "home" to this side of the island frequently for a visit. He is a yearling and has already had several hooking incidents.

RN04 (M) "Kainoa" - Has been a frequent visitor the last couple of months and causes trouble when he shows up

RG28 (M) "Lefty" - Has been a nuisance when he shows up. Very possessive of other younger seals

R3CU (M) - no nickname despite years frequenting us he just goes by R3CU

R3CX (M) "Nalo" - has been another troublemaker

R303 (F) "BG" - Benny's Girl. She still gets nice and round, turns into a

KG54 (F) "Huaka'i" - trip, voyage, journey. She came from Kure, got hapai disappeared in Nov/Dec2022 then showed back up on Kauai in January very skinny and molted there. She may have pupped on Niihau

RG40 (M) "Holokai" - local boy, born at Turtle Bay but has chosen to hang out here.

RJ58 (F) "Kaimana" - did several pit stops around here

RH48 (F) "Lei Ola" - also did several pit stops here

RH76 (F) "Kala" - did some pit stops here

RN14 (M) "Molokai" - would come by often to check the girls

RP30 (M) "Puka" - hasn't been around here lately but come back to see his birth grounds

RH32 (M) "Ka'ale" - hasn't been around for a while, must have mist the births memo. I still believe we'll see him around soon

RW02 (M) "PVKauai" - he's here several times a week

RO40 (M) "Ka'ena" - seems to leave the island less. I see him several times a week. He no longer enjoys trouble around him. Sometimes he hangs around with OUR Molokai girls

R016 (F) "Right Spot" - she doesn't come frequen tly but shows up once or twice a year to say hi 

Over the years we lost some dear seals, some we watched from day one, some died some disappeared. None of those are mentioned above.

We have had our share and more of hookings. Ka'ena is the Houdini, has managed to get hooked so many times and most of them he manages to shake them off.

So yes I'm still "sealing" and keeping and eye on the fur kids as well as all the other wildlife and humans in the park.

My days are spent monitoring the park, doing as much outreach as possible and sharing our love for this place we call home.

I have to mention that I have a lot of help from SP volunteers, friends, neighbors, posses and fishermen it takes a village to do this. I couldn't without their help.

My phones only are quiet when turned off.

Note: Photoshoots and commercializing photos taken inside our State Parks without a permit is illegal. The same goes for commercial guided tours

Flippety Floppety Stinky hugs