Check out this link

An interesting program, you can read about their experience as it happens... Very exciting!

http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/hawaii/2012/

Nicholas School Students Visit Hawaii's Marine National Monument  Jan. 15 - 28, 2012 
Join us as we spend 10 fascinating days studying marine conservation in the remote, restricted Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument of the northwestern Hawaiian Islands and 5 days learning about environmental issues on Oahu. Through our students’ blogs, photos and videos, we’ll bring this remarkable, rarely visited corner of the world to you.

Model of a Monk Seal Skeleton

Aloha Good People! 

Dana sent these images to be a little bit ago and I forgot to post them... here is a MODEL of a monk seal skeleton.  Both Dana and I thought it was very cool and wanted to share with you all. If I'm not mistaken this is on Maui, and I apologize because I could not find the name of the person who actually made this. Enjoy ~donna~ 

Update see this link for more information: 

http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/about/monkseal.html

**** 1000 ENTRIES ****

Aloha Good People!

Well today is a big day for the monksealmania blog... our 1000 entry! Its hard to thank each and everyone of you that have contributed and supported this effort. It really is about a team of people coming together... ONE of my favorite connections is with our good friends in Molokai... Val came across the blog and sent me some information on seal sightings on Molokai... with Val's permission I started posting her emails... but beyond Val's sharing her experiences, Barb and Rob made a connection with her and took a trip over to Molokai... and so it began, friendships and connections. For me personally... I have made so many new friends and I am thrilled to be in the company with so many that share the same passion as me.

So here are some blog facts & statistics:

• First entry/post February 8, 2008
• Total of 518 entries in 2008
• Since January 2009 we have 14,818 visitors (obviously many repeat readers)
• 67% of the entries are from DB
• 29% talk about Irma
• 23% talk about Buster
• 22% talk about Ewa Girl
• 21% talk about Kermit
• 19% talk about RIP
• 17% talk about Kolohe
• 15% talk about Sadie
• 13% talk about M&M
• 13% talk about R301
• 13% talk about Rocky
• 13% talk about Volunteers
• 11% talk about Kerby
• 11% talk about RBO8
• 10% talk about Duke
• 10% talk about Hoku

In the last 20 months:

• 5 pups were born on OAHU (4 males 1 female)
• Hawaiian Monk Seal was named the official State Mammal
• Volunteer organized and created HMSRTO non profit 501C3
• KP2 - a star is born
• We lost Chester & Hoku
• We had 2 seals shot on Kauai
• One person serving prision time for one shooting
• First official fund raiser
• 3 completed seal counts

Well my good people THANK YOU for making this place a success... Starting in November I would like to feature an animal a month... See if we can get people relating their stories about this cast of characters.
~donna~

Monk Seal Volunteers being Interviewed

I apologize for not posting this earlier... it was sent to me twice and some how just fell through my email... The following links are programs on community television, William Aila interviewing a volunteers Dana and Rafe... Enjoy!!!

NOAA Volunteers William Aila interviews NOAA volunteers Dana Jones and Rafe Maldonado concerning volunteering in Hawaii for the Monk Seal conservation program.
Go to www.noaa.gov for further information.
See the program here: NOAA Volunteers

Other William Aila programs about NOAA are here:

Whales and Dolphins discusses how NOAA and Hawaii Pacific University is helping to save these magnificent species. Click here to view this program: Whales and Dolphins

Monk Seals showcases how NOAA and Hawaii Pacific University are working together to help save this ancient animal from extinction. Click here to view this program: Monk Seals

Happy 1 Year Bloggers!!!

Today makes one year this blog was created..... !!! Initially I created this blog to keep myself involved with Hawaiian Monk Seal information, but as time went on I realized this is a wonderful forum for "monk seal" people to share information, experiences and to help educate. I want to acknowledge DB Dunlap's contribution because without him this would be pretty boring. However, as a result of DB's efforts many volunteers have been able to share information... Barb and Rob... and our Molokai family.

Ultimately if this blog provides a place in which we can get updates on the animals we have cared for, or to be able to see that Mojo disappeared from Rabbit Island and pops up in Molokai, well I consider it a success.

In the end I created this blog to stay involved, but it is not "MY" blog it belongs to all of us, I am just the gatekeeper. I hope we can continue with such success and caring as we have in the past year. Mahalo, donna

I also want to thank all the folks over in NOAA, who without them I would not be involved with many of the opportunities I have been given. Thank you David, Tracey, Charles... and all of the NOAA family!

If you would like to sign up and become a volunteer go to: http://www.monkseal.org/

Team Billand Report on Makaha Beach

Hey Blog Woman!
While looking for seals, look at what was at Makaha Beach today!!! What a mess...and I almost had a heart attack when I thought I saw a dead seal out there, it turned out to be large kiawe tree debris. Phew. Wonder who will clean up all this mess. How was your place during the storm. We sprung a leak in our living room again. But we were ok. My sisters place was in eight inches of water.
Seal ya, BB
Tonight we have had more of the thunder and lightning and more rain. We already built our Ark!!!

An Important Message for our friends.

Make Sure You VOTE !!!

It's Important !

Sighting Unidentified Monks

Aloha Good People!

On Friday I was speaking to some of the Kayak folks in Kailua, and they told me this past week there have been 2 sightings at the Mokes. One time the tour group was held back so the animal would not be disturbed.... I was able to get any additional information about looks or a transmitter...

One day there was a seal surfing the ways... pretty close to some people surfers.... so... who knows might be those young'ens frolicking in the waves!

~donna~

Comment Section - Don't miss out

Aloha Good People!

Just wanted to make sure everyone is aware of the comment section on the daily post.... I know we don't have a lot of activity in terms of discussions.... but some people do leave comments and I just want to make sure everyone does take a look. At the bottom of each post the word comment click on it to either leave a comment or read any that may be there.

So for a quick review from this week:
8/26 Barbara makes some comments on her experience with Benny
8/25 Rebecca - asked about Kolohe... and I know many of us have been wondering.... and DBs post pays mention to it....
8/24 Dana gives us an update on some activites that took place over the weekend in Waikiki with an outreach booth with Jennifer from Kismet Creations.

And don't forget to click on the link from Charles Monksealsandmore

~donna~

FROM: Charles' Monk Seals and More Blog

Aloha Good People!
Okay I stole this from Charles blog http://monksealsandmore.blogspot.com .... Just in case you haven't had a chance to check it out. The "scientist of the day" is both Brenda and Tracy who we all know and love.... so here they are in their travels.... OH YEA, remind me if I need a dog sitter NOT to ask Tracy!

~donna~

Scientist of the Day: Brenda B. and Tracy W. Its a double dose of scientists today. Brenda and Tracy are both part of our Population Assessment program and are going to be spending a few weeks camped at Lisianski Island monitoring the seals, collecting scats, and tagging weaned seals that were born on the island.

Brenda B.'s favorite things to do are raising service dogs for the blind, belly dancing, and hiking. If she could have one food right now, it would be dark chocolate. Her first concert was Leon Russell


Tracy W. focuses on our main Hawaiian Islands data and is the person you might talk to if you call the monk seal sighting line. Tracy's first pet was Snoopy, a mutt. When asked what happened to Snoopy, Tracy was quoted saying "...his tail got run over once by a car..." and "...I don't know, he died." If Tracy could only have one book to read for the rest of her life it would be Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff by Cristopher Moore. Her favorite place she ever visited was the South Island of New Zealand. Wish them luck during their stay on Lisianski Island.

Check Out this Link

Aloha Good People!

Don't know if any of you have had a chance but you should check out Charles' blog. The NOAA team are on the NOAA RV Oscar Elton Sette cruising to the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
Charles has a really good sense of humor and there are some really cool pics.

http://monksealsandmore.blogspot.com

Also its an opportunity to send the crew some messages.... This isn't your 3 hour tour with the skipper.

~donna~

DB Post Friday August 15th

Kerby,Hoku,Kolohe,RIP&RB08@RI,T15M&Ka'ena@KP,
It was anything but a routine day at the Pier and Rabbit Island. Some guy named Duke stopped by (Lt. Governor Duke Aiona), and entourage of 10, stopped by for my standard spiel and then off for a visit to RI. Hopefully, it will do some long term good.

The cast today was da' boyz , Kerby,Hoku& Kolohe, plus RIP and RB08.

Team Billand called at 1145 to advise that they and Karen Harris had spent their day with T15M and Ka'ena at Ka'ena Point. Aloha, DB

Scienctist on the Go

Dr. Charles Littnan is on his way to the North West Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) with a crew of scienctist. Dr. Charles is keeping a daily blog of their adventure.... so Monk Seal Fans... check this out.

http://monksealsandmore.blogspot.com/

I will leave a link to the site on the side so you can access directly.

Governor Lingle Visit to Rabbit Island

Aloha Good People!
Today's news based on DB's report and KGMB Governor Lingle accompanied by volunteers and DOCARE (Division of Conservation and Preservation Enforcement) visited Manana Island (Rabbit Island). The good news is the State is listening and taking a look at some of the issues. The Governor spoke about the trash and evidence of boats landing on the island and the concern of improper use of gil-net fishing. There was no mention of our seals but I am sure she got a good look at them.

PLEASE NOTE: These pictures are from the Governor's visit today. Along with DOCARE officers and volunteers they did a clean up and reviewed some of the issues. LANDING A BOAT ON RABBIT ISLAND IS PROHIBITED.

All Better

Aloha Good People!

All fixed, apparently the power strip my DSL modem was plugged into did not recover from yesterdays power outage. I had to resort to dial-up as a back up. (I am committed to posting on this blog but I am not that crazy that I would be doing this on dial up for more than a day or two)

All is good!
~donna~

SIGN: Monk Seal Nursey Area

Sign: Gill Net Rules

June 12th Mock Stranding Ala Moana Beach

Aloha Good People:

During the Pacific Islands Region Marine Mammal Network Response Network Meeting there was a "mock" stranding of dolphins and whales on the beach. The drills proved to be informative and fun for the volunteers (especially many of the new ones). The folks from NOAA, HPU, UH, and DLNR this was an exercise to teach as well as iron out some kinks in the process.

Overall the level of expertise in this one location is to be respected. These are the folks that deal with all the issues involved with stranding whether its responding on the beach or dealing with the animals if they are injured, diseased or worse yet deceased.

I was both honored and proud to be a part of this and in the company of these specialist.

June 12th Monk Seal State Mammal

Jerry Okamoto, Patricia Boehm, David Schofield, Jennifer Maldonado, John Johnson

Aloha Good People!

June 11th and 12th NOAA held its 3rd Annual Pacific Islands Region Marine Mammal Response Network Meeting. On Thursday Lt. Governor Duke Aiona signed a commemorative monk seal state bill. Above is a photo of the event.

As a volunteer who participated in the actual lobbying for this bill I would like to acknowledge a couple of people who attended this meeting but were not a part of the photograph. I personally believe these folks deserve a big MAHALO for their time and passion in front of the legislators during February and March.

- Karen Rohter brought her classroom of students to the state house and they were fantastic. It was the testimony of these children that really rang true!
- Barbara and Robert Billand, who continuously show their love and passion for these animals. I will never forget Barbara's descriptive story of their daily experiences on the beach.
- finally there is Georgette Yaindl, who was not part of the audience, but without her relentless efforts none of this would have been done.

There were many many people who wrote letters and their testimonies read into the record, and then there were the folks who were able to testify in person. Many of them I don't know their names but I still want to extend a THANK YOU to all. Jerry Okamoto gave an eloquent acknowledgement to the importance of this bill and all the hard work by all the volunteers! I wish I had it in writing because it was really something special! And I have to thank Patty for the many photos of Chester (how can anyone resist that face?)

~donna~

http://www.khon2.com/home/ticker/19877794.html

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080613/NEWS03/806130373/1001/LOCALNEWSFRONT

Be Aware, But Don't Panic

Aloha Good People!

I wanted to bring attention to some information that "we" need to be aware of, but by all means don't panic this isn't an alert. "A couple of spear fishermen came in bearing news that a 8-10 foot tiger shark took their fish hanging from a float they were towing 30 or so feet behind them just beyond the reef" was reported by volunteer Karen minding 5AY and P02. This information was logged into the notebook at the site.

I spoke with David from NOAA this morning to raise the question "what do we do? and who do we call?" As most of you know there are sharks in the waters and this siting doesn't mean they are hunting or attracted to the monk seals.... in fact chances are the fish from the spear fisher is more likely to have brought them in.... However, we need to stay alert and Please call in any sitings or information relating to a siting to David. He will work with the authorities to let them know.
Some things we know:

• There are 40 known shark species around the Hawaiian Islands
• Seals and sharks occupy the same areas and have for a long time
• Monk Seals swim inter-island in deep channels with very large sharks and manage to make thier way without any signs of attack
• We have one known monk seal that encountered a shark (see profile below)

If you would like additional information I found the following site helpful....
http://www.aloha.com/~lifeguards/sharintr.html

http://www.aloha.com/~lifeguards/shartips.html

Click on the image below to read T15M 'Sharkbite" profile information. Please note these wounds are old and he has been around for some time now.