September 22, 2023 Congratulations to Gamma Gayle and Tony!

This was brought to my attention and wanted to post since both Tony and Gayle have done so much for the Hawaiian Monk Seals over the years!  Well done and well deserved!

In the East O'ahu Voice insert dated 09/20/23 in the MidWeek magazine in the East All -Stars was the following entry:

"...The City Council presented a certificate recognizing the Sierra Club O'ahu group outing leaders Suzan Harada and Reese Liggett, Hawai'i Kai residents Gayle Matsuda and Tony Querubin, and 808 Cleanup's Michael Loftin for their efforts in conserving and protecting the environment at Wawamalu Beach and the Kaiwi coast."

Kudos and mahalo to them.

August 3, 2023 (part 2) In Memory of Benny RE74 and Pohaku RO28

Thanks to Dana for following up on the remains of Benny RE74 and Pohaku RO28. Auntie Nettie was there to bless their ashes before they were returned to the ocean. And to all the volunteers that were there to remember the two seals and participated saying a few words to remember them.

The ceremony was also attended by two seals. Auntie Nettie was surprised to see them in that they usually show up a little later. The two seals were RN14 Kalani and RL12 Aukai, perhaps to say their goodbyes. After the ashes were scattered in the water, RN14 decided to roll into the water (just like Benny use to) then he went over by the rocks and swam through and rolled in the spot where the ashes were scattered.  Perhaps they know more than we give them credit for.

Thank you Melody for sharing!!

(this is such a Benny pose)

04/27/2022 (part 2) A Hui Hou Posse Pal Amy

 I got an email from Amy this evening being her last day on the beaches with the Hawaiian Monk Seals and in our beautiful state.  I personally would like to thank Amy and sorry that I never met her face to face. But sometimes you don't need to actually meet someone to know what a wonderful person they are!

Donna -

I got to say goodbye to RG28 Lefty at Kaula / Secrets. I put up signs but could only stay for one hour to do Seal 101. So I didn’t leave rope up when I left. I called it into HMAR and HMSPO and told Barbara Billand and Aunty Nettie about seal on the beach.

Lefty let me see each side of him - all but his signature natural bleach birthmark on his left foreflipper. I know it was him by the applied bleach mark and cookie cutter marks on his upper and lower back. He had tags too but not able to see those. I did see his male belly too.

I am leaving tomorrow for the endless beach with no ocean - Arizona. I am so lucky to have had time to learn from so many amazing people in the monk seal community- Dana, Barbara and Aunty have been endlessly generous with teachings. 

Find more volunteers and monk seal educators - the seals need lots of help - especially at tourist locations like Ko’Olina.

Take care fellow Seal Maniacs
Sincerely,
Posse Pal Amy

Lefty RG28

04/06/2021 Happy 20th Monk Seal Ohana Day!

 

Here is the story of how it all began, and I am so grateful it did.  The opportunity to be a part of something meaningful and to have a true ohana of monk seal friends just makes it all the better.

THANK YOU MARIILYN FOR SHARING, AND THANK YOU DB !

On Good Friday 2001 which fell on April 6, 2001, DB was at Sandy Beach to see if there was any reason to do some video of bodyboarders which was his passion at the time.  While he was watching the beach, suddenly he saw a Hawaiian Monk Seal (HMS) haul out at Sandy Beach.  In all of his years spent on Hawaiian beaches, he had never seen a HMS before. He called me at work and asked me what he should do.  I searched around and found a Hawaiian Monk Seal phone line. He called it and a short time later, a woman named Margaret Dupree, a NOAA employee called him back. She later joined DB at Sandy Beach. Margaret was an attorney and not a biologist. That's how it all started. The seal was an adult female that DB named LuSeal. I joined him at SB later that day and was amazed to see a HMS, my first although I had been in Hawaii since 1968. Over the next few weeks LuSeal hauled out at Sandy Beach frequently. 

We found out then that there was no volunteer group and really no one to call.  Several weeks into this venture, NOAA sent an officer from OLE (Office of Law Enforcement) on a Sunday to tell us volunteers what we could and could not do. There was a group of about 15 of us listening to him talk, when we saw LuSeal cruising the shore and getting ready to haul out. We had already started setting up a "perimeter" whenever she hauled out. We weren't quite sure what to do when she hauled out when an official was there, but he told us to do what we normally did. Then he left to go get his wife, because this was the first time he had seen a Hawaiian Monk Seal on an Oahu beach. Little did we know at that time that Hawaiian Monk Seals would become DB's passion and that he would manage to accrue a whole posse of folks to help track the HMS on Oahu. I'm forever thankful for this fortuitous circumstance because it introduced me to an amazing critter and has led to a wide circle of friends whom I greatly value.

Marilyn

2020 Merry Christmas

Here is our annual Christmas story. This year is has a new look but a little too small for us older folks to read so I included the text.  Wishing all you a wonderful healthy and safe Christmas.

Hawaiian Monk Seal – ‘Twas the Night before Christmas

Ilio holo I Kau ua ua – Mele Kalikimaka

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all thru the land

Not a monk seal was stirring, amidst the white sand

The molts were completed, they waited with care

In hopes that Tracy would bleach their new hair

The weaners were nestled all snug on the sand

While dreaming of tako, a slumber so grand

DB on the pier with his scope and his cap

Had just settled down to watch them all nap

When out on the ocean there arose such a clatter

He sprang from his chair to see what was the matter

Away to the railing he flew in a dash

Tore open the camera shutter, no time for a flash

The sun on the crest of incoming waves

Like a nautical lantern, what radiance it gave

When what to his wondering eyes should reveal

One outrigger canoe pulled by Hawaiian Monk seals

With a little ole paddler, so lively & quick

He knew in a moment it must be St. Nick

More rapid than dolphins his courses they came

And he whistled and shouted and called them by name

On Mojo, Duke, Hoku & Chester

On Ewa Girl, Irma, Benny & Buster

To the top of the volcano to the top of the wall

Now swim away, swim away, swim away all

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky

So up to Nihoa, Kure & Midway they flew

With a sleigh full of herring a tako or two

And then, in a twinkling, I heard by the reef

I gasped and I sputtered in great disbelief

As I drew in my head and was turning around

St. Nicholas arose from the surf with a bound

He was dressed all in ti leaves from his head to his toes

And his tapas a mess from the long hard row

A bundle of fish he had slung on his back

And he looked like a Kahuna, just opening his pack

His eyes how they twinkled, his dimples how merry

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry

His Hawaiian smile was drawn up like a bow

And the beard on his chin as white as Mauna Kea’s snow

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his chore

Blessing the waters and monk seals on shore

And taking his fingers and pinching his nose

Back out in the surf and down under he dove

He sprang to his boat, to his team gave a whistle

And away they all flew, thru the reef like a missile

But I heard him exclaim, as they swam out of sight

Mele Kalikimaka to all, and to all a good night.

Dana Jones

December 2009

 

05/04/2020 Stay-At-Home (42) Monday Memory of Honey Girl

I first met Honey Girl in March 2015.  I saw a story on the news, a monk seal gave birth and a group was looking for volunteers to help monitor mom and pup.  Dave and I have been seeing seals for years from our Ka’ena Point hikes, but now we could become more involved. I signed us up for the next training class.  A couple of weeks later, on our way to class we stopped by the pup site and watched Honey Girl and Ola Loa.  It was our first mom and pup, we were hooked.  After our classroom training and a few beach trainings we were now Monk Seal Foundation volunteers.  I soon met DB and was truly astonished by how much he knew, but more grateful for how much her shared.  My circle of seal friends soon grew, I continue to learn from them and always grateful to them for answering my many seal questions that I seem to always have.  For me, Honey Girl’s story is more about her impact on my personal life.  Honey Girl was an amazing matriach, I am thankful that I got to meet her, 6 of her kids, and all 5 of her grandkids.  Her contribution to my life is much more than the priveldge of watching her, her offspring, and other seals.  Because of Honey Girl I have met an amazing group of people.  It started out as a group of seal friends and has turned into so much more.  We are not only there for each other for the ups and downs of the seal world, we are there for each other for the ups and downs of life.  Because of Honey Girl I became a volunteer and found my passion for seals.  Because of Honey Girl I have met people who have enriched my life more than they’ll ever know.  Thank you Honey Girl, thank you.      Tammy
Thank you Tammy and Thank you Dave - Team T&D

04/25/2020 Stay-At-Home (33) Thinking About Honey Girl

Aloha Good People

I am still feeling the emotions over this loss and after reading many of the social media post so are many others.  One thing for sure is Honey Girl R5AY touched many people here on Oahu, from professionals, volunteers, neighbors, and the folks at Turtle Bay Resort.  Honey Girl was pretty consistent in hauling out in certain spots on Oahu which made her part of the North Shore neighborhood. Then over the years giving birth, usually on North Shore and many times at Turtle Bay.

I am sure in days to follow there will be many stories, and photos to honor her and many of her off spring.  But tonight I want to give a shout out to a few of the MANY MANY people who watched over her through out the years.  Some of these folks have been around long before there was any organized volunteer group, they did it and continue to do it because, well.... they got really big hearts and some of the best folks I have ever met.

It goes without saying that our beloved DB was very much a part of R5AYs life.... but there were so many more. 
Kathy and Jim Brown were around when Honey Girl gave birth to Penelope back in 2006.  They did such an amazing job even back then documenting details about the size and interactions of mom and pup.  We also have Kathy to thank for developing an educational curriculum that has been used to education so many of Hawaii's children.
John Johnston, Ella & Dave Siroskey, Joanne Tabor, Karen Harris were some of the folks from the early early days looking after her. 
I got involved in 2008 and Honey Girl was my first official pup watch. Oh those days, it was truly grass roots, scrambling to create some level of organized shifts and consistent information. In those days NOAA managed the whole event.  Team Billand, Dana Jones, Lesley McPherson, Karen Banes, Jan Williamson, Liz Weske, Jennifer & Rafe Maldenado, Karen Bryant, Diane Gabriel, Karen Rohter, were some of the folks involved in that seasons pupping events. In 2008 when Honey Girl gave birth at Crawfords beach, KC gave birth about a week later at Mokuleia. 
This made for interesting times, for a bunch of "volunteers" who didn't have anything in common other than watching over these mom and pups. As a result,  a group of us got together and created Oahu's first organized volunteer group by setting up a non-profit.
As the years went on, folks like Karen Turner, Jeannie Martinson, Kelly Girl, Don Porter and so many more got involved when Honey Girl decided to make the Keiki Pool at turtle bay her favorite birthing spot. 
A BIG shout out to the staff, including security at Turtle Bay who were always supportive of the volunteers, as well as keeping an eye out for our girl.

I apologize if I have left anyone out, that is not my intent.... I truly know we were all in it together and we all feel the loss of this amazing female who taught us so much about Hawaiian monk seals, mother nature in the wild, and how precious life is to all critters.

AND last but not least to all the posse that through out the years, had an opportunity to meet her while snoozing on the north shore, or maybe meeting one of her kids.

THANK YOU ALL for the years and genuine caring for each other and our beloved monk seals.

April 13, 2019 A Hui Hou Miss Becky

Today Dana released her mom to the ocean in Waikiki where she lived for 25 years.  I would like to extend my sincerest thoughts of support to Dana and family.  I want to let our readers know that Miss Becky was a big contributor watching over the Hawaiian monk seals, as well as the volunteer organizations that were created. 

Back in the day Miss Becky would spend hours on the beaches watching over such critters and doing outreach, as Benny, Irma, Rocky and many others that hauled out in Waikiki.  I met her once hanging out with Benny, she became Becky, my Benny Beach Buddy.

It goes without saying I appreciate all the time that Miss Becky spent caring about the seals! AND that when I heard Rocky showed up today, well it's just a perfect way to say goodbye to Miss Becky! 

 Thank you Rocky for showing up today

5/20/2018 Monk Seal Dailies: My Monk Seal Ohana

These hands represent 10 people and between us we have served over 100 years towards the greater good of the Hawaiian monk seals. I am proud and honored to be surrounded by these people.

Love, respect and honor for each other, what we do together and differently <3 

AND THEN there were COOKIES ! 

4/22/2018 Happy Earth Day

The Hawaiian Monk Seal Preservation Ohana had a busy weekend sharing their history and information about Hawaiian Monk Seals. They were out at Sea Life Park and the Honolulu Zoo.  As always outreach like this is important to raise awareness especially to our Keiki.  They have learned over the years how important the role keiki play in the survival of this species.  Big Mahalos to Dana Jones and her endless, and tireless efforts to save this species. Also big hugs and mahalos to the many loyal volunteers that have brought such awareness and change to the beaches.   YA DONE GOOD !

3/23/2018 Monk Seal Dailies (part 2) PLEASE KEEP YOUR DISTANCE !

Today one of our loyal posse pals was on the west side and experienced this unfortunate situation. While at a site there were two ladies climbing down to near a sleeping seal. The seal was RH48 Lei Ola, as they got closer every attempt was made to flag them off, but they kept getting closer and closer taking photos. Finally one of them looked up and our posse called out to stop, get away, but instead they sat. Our posse pal was able to get some pictures and when they noticed their picture was being taken they decided to climb back up the cliff. 


As luck would have it the DLNR was on site today giving tickets to people parking illegally, and karma was at it's best today because these two offenders got a ticket and weren't happy about it.

I mention this for two reasons:
1)  Volunteers, posse, folks looking after the seals are faced with rude and clueless people on a regular basis. You try your best to do what you can to advise them of what is good viewing practices. But it's extremely frustrating when people just don't listen.
2) For people who are out there viewing seals, if someone is asking you to back away please be understanding. They are trying to protect the seal and in some cases it's for your safety.  Also realize you are one of many many people they have asked, you are not unique, it happens everyday. We do think once you listen and learn about the Hawaiian monk seals you will be more than willing to help keep them safe and allow them to rest peacefully.

Okay that my nickels worth :-) 

 way too close

February 8, 2018 10 Year Anniversary of MonkSealMania & A Very Special Day

Aloha Good People
Today marks a special day in blog history, first because it was 10 years ago on February 8th 2008 the very first post was made, that was 10 years and many many nights, photos, seals, and volunteers. All of it I am grateful and have loved and learned so much from all of you!  So thank you!

But another reason why today marks a special day is earlier today the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology - University of Hawaii at Manoa held a small celebration to honor Marilyn's official commitment to support monk seal research and observation in a partnership between the Joint Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research at SOEST and NOAA. This foundation is being set up to honor DB's life and work, as well as Marilyn's long relationship with UH.  

The event did not last long and was held at Makai Pier, (totally fitting). I know many folks would have wanted to be there and DB is someone who has touched so many of us. The best gift we can give back it to continue the work he has taught us, the way he taught us.

As more information becomes available about the foundation I will post the information in case anyone wants to contribute.  

Here are a few photos from this very special day!  

Diane, Marilyn, Dana, me, Colleen, Lesley 

Tammy's fine work seal seal everywhere a seal 

 Marilyn and UH Team

 The Official Signing

 NOAA Team 

 UH Team

 A gift for Marilyn