10/07/2020 Wednesday Monk Seal Dailies

 Today's dailies are brought to you by Team Billand.  Also I got a text this morning from a friend who had kayaked out to the Mokes. 

Just before 8 this morning I got a text with two pictures of molting seals on Moku nui. Initially we couldn't tell who they were although I did suspect one of them was J30 Nani's kid.  About an hour later she texted me with the tags. Turns out RG32 who usually is on Rabbit Island is on Rabbit Island molting. And we confirmed the second seal tag J30 was in fact Wailea.  This made her day in that she was around when Nani was born and when Wailea was born.  I love when people have a connection to certain seals.

Team Billand checked the beach where Kawika has been but he wasn't there, but there were foot prints and paw prints. They took a walk and finally found him way off to the left sleeping in peace. He is in the midst of his molt about 25%

Just before 8 am they checked the outfall and there was Kaale RH32 stealing fish. He finally left about

45 minutes later.  He swam by the beach where Kawika was resting and landed at another beach.  Team Billand called the hotline to report there were a lot of people out and they were told to "enjoy the seals". 

At 9 am Lefty  RG28 showed up from the outfall area, looking along the shoreline. He finally landed by R407 Kawika. They greeted each other with a kiss and sniffs, then entered the water for some play time. It was entertaining to watch and people on the beach gathered to watch the seal ballet.   Kawika had enough and left to haul out again. Lefty hauled out where Kawika was earlier.  Volunteer Melina arrived just before 10.

At 10:16 am Team Billand found Kawena RH36. She is looking rather fat resting on the rocks alone. 

Team Billand could see from a far Kaale joined Lefty across at another beach. Melina was on scene.

Afternoon Team Billand checked in on a popular spot and sure enough they found three critters. RL70 Leina was inland alone. Kolohe RW22 was inland to the right on a sand patch snoozing alone. And lastly was RH76 Kala sleeping in between the rocks alone. It was noted she is looking rather large.

Team Billand got a call from a friend that there were two seals swimming by Campbells. They went out to check but the glare was tough and the seals were far out. One seal was an adult with a clean coat and the other had lots of scratches on it back and the coat looked dark. They could not make a call so they were reported as U/U unidentified unknowns.

RG32 

RJ30 Wailea

R407 Kawika

Ka'ale at the outfall

Kaale hauling out

RG28 Lefty

Kawika and Lefty

Kawena RH36

Ka'ale and Lefty

RL70 Leina

RW22 Kolohe

RH76 Kala

UU swimming by

06/28/2020 Sunday Act-with-Care (96) Monk Seal Dailies

Today's dailies are brought to you by Team Billand and Marilyn.  
I am also including a couple of photos that were posted today on "My Kailua" facebook page of a hooked seal on Moku Nui.  The U/M has a hook on the outside of his mouth (good news). Unsure if anyone will be able to get to him and hopefully he'll shake it off. If and when I hear anything more about this I'll keep you posted.  

Marilyn viewed Rabbit Island today for about 2 hours. She observed five seals.
Mom and PO5 were on the rock flats (Lanikai side) of LPB. There was one nursing session. Marilyn also made a correction to PO5 age.  Born on June 5th do only 23 days old :-)  (those extra days a big deal when it comes to pups)
Unknown J/M alone on left point beach. Looks it could be two or three years old with an older coat, tags and a lighter yellow male belly.
PO1 Kahukai and PO3 Momona were about 50 ft Makapuu side of the 3rd blue sign. PO1 was there first and a little bit later PO2 hauled out nearby. Both here ID'd by their weaner size and coloration both without tags. PO3 is losing some of his baby fat but is still substantially bigger than PO1. Nice to see them together.

Team Billand came across Kaale RH32 at the outfall just after 6 am this morning. He was up to his usual bad habits stealing fish. They stayed for a bit and when it was clear he wasn't ready to haul out they left.
Team Billand returned to the area after 11 and they saw Ka'ale hauling out at one of the crowded beaches. People were getting really close to him all for taking a photo. They watched and called the hotline to let them know how crowded it was.  This has to be extremely frustrating to deal with. One guy came out of the water walked right up to Ka'ale who lunged and barked at him. 
Finally and thankfully volunteer Melina arrived and she immediately dealt with the crowd control placed signs.  Team Billand left after Melina arrived to handle the situation.

Team Billand found Kekoa Alii RK72 hauled out on the rocks. He spotted another seal and took off from lower rocks.
There was a seal foraging off shore in the big surf. Then before they knew it the seal was on mid rocks. It took them a bit to ID Nalu R3CX who finally showed off his tags. He stayed on mid rocks alone.

They spotted little RL20 Kalua coming from the west. He came in spotted Kekoa and galumphed up by him. A big set came in pushing both of them around.  Kekos sniffed out Kalua, they played a bit and then Kekoa took off.
Kalua fought the waves, hiding in the rocks and then finally goint to the right on the sand patch where he stayed.

hooked male seal on Moku Nui

 Ka'ale Foraging

 AND here is what a circus looks like....! 

 Kind of puts the size in perspective

Kekoa Alii RL72

 R3CX Nalu 

 RL20 Kalua

 Kekoa and RL20

 Cute little Kalua