11/7/2010 Rocky's Magic & Irma's Diamond

A very notable natural bleach mark on Rocky

 Irma

 Irma needed to visit Auntie Colleen since Rocky and Maka'iwi are off gallivanting

11/6/2010 DB Dailies

The majority of the Rabbit Island cast was already in place on my 0643 first look. I found Mojo, RIP and Sam all in a little gang, in the Morning Glory, 40 ft left of 1BS, and Duke by himself up in the grass behind SRI at the right end of the beach.

When I got back to Makai Pier at 0915 I found that everybody had moved down to cool off, land that Buster had joined the others at the left end.

Buster and Mojo would enter the water at 1017. Mojo would haul out to join Duke at SRI at 1037, and Buster hauled out to 3BS, and 1244. All remained there the rest of the day.

Dera called at 0825 with the report of an U/U at Ewa Beach. I've received no further word at this writing.

Dana checked in at 1047 to advise that volunteers had checked White Plains to Nimitz and found nobody.

Dera sent photos from Sean Kelly, of Irma at the Kalaeloa Campgrounds yesterday, near the Fire Surf School.

Marilyn did the Ka'ena Point trek today and found Ka'ena, RO28, and an U/M that I just can't make myself believe is CeeCee.

RO28 has picked up a brand new Cookie Cutter wound. It was not there when she was last seen by Team Kenyon on 10-17-

 Buster

 Irma 

Ka'ena

 RO28

 Oh my... thats disgusting.. thank goodness they heal quickly

Unidentified Male

 Did this little one have any tags?   Could it be the little A50 that showed up a while back.

11/5/2010 DB Dailies

I was stoked to find a new guy waiting for me at Rabbit Island this morning on my 0654 check. It would prove to be one of Diane & Val's guys from Molokai, RE70. This was his first Rabbit Island visit, however he has been on Oahu once before, back on 1-21-07 at Ka'ena Point. The Trekker Legend, Karen Harris was (of course) the one to find him.

His major markers were an entanglement scar on his neck, a fresh epoxy patch where his transmitter used to be, an old coat, and a posterior ventral,left scar. An afternoon conversation with Tracy, and checking the Molokai shots, at 1600, gave me the ID.
RE70 was at mid beach, 40 ft left of 1BS. Directly behind him, up at the cliff were Buster and Sadie.

At 0848, Mojo hauled out 90 ft left of 1BS , where he remained by himself the rest of the day.

A 0855, Duke hauled out and attempted to move to RE70. A snort and a snap brought that idea to a halt. Duke continued on up to the Morning Glory where he joined Buster and Sadie. All 3 would roll and play up there and all would move down and enter the water at 0940. Duke would haul out again to RE70's location at 0949, and again was rebuffed. He spent the rest of the day, 10 ft away. I did not see Buster or Sadie again today.

At 1040 Sam hauled out and he too attempted to move to RE70. He was barked off, so he continued on up and into the Morning Glory, where he spent the rest of the day. 

At 1231 RIP arrived. He paid RE70 no mind at all, and RE70 ignored him also. RIP moved to Duke and did some brief nuisance nuzzling, for few minutes. He then moved off to the left and up, and spent the rest of
the day, 80 ft left of 1BS. 

Dera called at 1050 with a report from the Fire Surf School people at Kalaeloa Campgrounds about an animal on the beach near their operation. Dera thought someone was going to respond, however I've not heard anything else.

With Team Billand in Vegas, new eyes are needed in the SW quadrant until their return on 11-9. Anyone living in the area, who can check the Iroquois Point , Ewa Beach, White Plains, Kalaeloa, Nimitz Beach sights, and what the heck West side spots too , would be greatly appreciated by the critters.

 RE70, Duke, Sadie and Buster   

 RE70, RIP and Duke

 Sam, RE70 and Duke

 Mojo, RE70, Sadie and Buster

 Mojo, Sadie, Duke, Buster, and RE70

Chester's Story - My old friend

Aloha good people....  many of you remember the old seal named Chester (had a very large scar across his chest) ... he was around on Oahu for a few years and died in 2008.  Some of you may remember when he became Chester the Celebrity Seal who got a lot of media exposure during his visit to Kailua Beach from New Years Day 2008 and stayed for entire 26 days.... 

Chester was near and dear to me.... he is the reason I got involved with monk seals.... I started this blog because after he left Kailua Beach I needed something "sealy" to do everyday....  he was the first monk seal I had ever seen and I am thankful not the last..... he brought me an ever lasting friendship with Aunty Sharon, and DB.... He opened the door for me to get to know and assist all the folks over in NOAA .....   soooo when I got this email today from Tracey you can imagine how touched I was....  What a wonderful gift to get know him a little more even though he's gone... thank you Tracey. (although I am still waiting for the dna results to find his offspring) At the very least monk seal fans, I hope you can appreciate how cool this information is....

......................... black and white photos from the late 1980's and early 1990's. I found Chester! It turns out that Chester was one of the Laysan males that was translocated to the MHI in 1994. His original Laysan ID was TK23. He was born on Laysan island in 1985!  He was translocated to Maui in the MHI in 1994 and not resighted after that year, at least not as TK23. The seal we all came to know as Chester was first identified on Kauai in 2001. He later came to Oahu in 2004. He was 23 years old when he died.

He's only 2 years old here... amazing

11/4/2010 DB Dailies

At 0655, from the Makapuu Overview, I found RIP snoozin' in the grass at 3BS on Rabbit Island. When I got to Makai Pier at 0701 Mojo at 1BS, and Duke in the grass behind Seal Rock Inlet were added to the cast.

At 1227 Buster hauled out to join Duke. There was some minimal nuisance nuzzling but both quickly settled down to snooze mode. All remained there the rest of the day.

Team Billand are on their way to Vegas, but called at 0711 to say that one of their posse had reported an animal a White Plains. Dana Jones confirmed the Irma ID at 1118.  Ah we're going to miss you two... Win some money...!  Come home safe....!

For those of you who knew and loved Chester, or whose Monk Seal Volunteer careers began with Chester in Kailua, check the blog in the morning. Tracy has some interesting news.

RIP

 Mojo

  Buster and Duke

 Irma

Aloha Oe Karen Turner

The volunteers and HMSRTO would like to send out a warm Aloha Oe to one of our newest and extremely dedicated volunteers.


Karen Turner called, filled out her profile and showed up on the beach all in the same day shortly after June 29th, 2010. Her reason was a beautiful little pup that would grow up to become Ua'Malie of the North Shore.

 Since those first few days, Karen has been a stalwart and emergency responder there at Turtle Bay. Her loyalty to learning about monk seals and her willingness to take ANY and sometimes numerous shifts has endeared her to us all. Within no time she became very well educated and jumped into any task that was asked of her.

The reason we wanted to give Karen this special recognition is that she is leaving us to return to her Winter home in Miami. We look forward to her return in the Spring (Karen that's pupping season) and wish her Aloha Oe. Until we meet again. Mahalo nui loa for your 18 weeks of dedication in watching over Ua'Malie. We could not have done this task so successfully without your help.

Dana & The Volunteers

 We'll miss you Karen... until next year.

11/3/2010 DB Dailies

It was pretty much pure misery on Makai Pier today. NW , chilly winds, blowing rain, only occasion glimpses of Rabbit Island during those few moments when the visibility improved to CRAPPY, and oh yes, the occasion white water blast onto the lanai. The COSTCO umbrella got a workout today. Even with all of that I still managed to ID 4 critters.

At 0722 I found Kolohe, in his favorite depression, 70 ft right of 3BS, and down the beach a bit at 110 ft right of the 3BS, up in the grass, were Mojo and Duke. At 1040 Sadie hauled out and moved up to join the boys. There was just minimal interaction between Duke and Sadie. That was that. It was just the 5 of us enjoying another RI day.

Team Billand called at 0653 to advise that Irma was one again at White Plains, near tower #1.

I'm happy to report that email from Tracy, advised that she agreed that our little U/M at Ka'ena Point has been CeeCee all along , based on Marilyn's shots from yesterday, added to the wealth of previous shots from Karen, Keith and Marilyn. To all concerned....Ya' Done Good !!!

Yall' know my ol' pal 4DJ. He's been hanging out at Iroquois Point lately. For many years now the office folks have tried to get me to use his real name, T21M (permanent ID number). His 4DJ tag was actually is old Laysan tag, and has been all but gone for years. Being a crotchety ol' guy, I've stubbornly refused to change. Probably nobody in the posse even knows that 4DJ had a runnin' buddy, 4DI. Both were ol' dudes and I haven't seen DI in years. It's the same story with him. 4DI was his Laysan tag. His real name is T757. Well, Tracy tells me that there is now a red tagged new guy on Kauai whose tags are 4DJ/4DI, so I'm going to have to make the change, just in case the new guy ever shows up over here. So.......... T21M & T757 it is .

Irma covering up - great shot Barb

Wet Rabbit

11/2/2010 DB Dailies

The theme of today's input of photos , from around the island was BIG Waves !! That was certainly the case for me with Rabbit Island observations. Though the RI surf break had tons of surfers, I'm happy to say that nobody screwed up. As you know, yesterday the Bleach Boyz went out and bleached Duke. Today, allllll the animals that I wished could have been there, showed up. My day began at 0639 with what would prove to be RIP at 3BS, He had last been seen on 9-15-10. He is 100% molted.  

At 0647 I found Mojo at the left end of the beach. When I first saw him he had a single tendril of old coat hanging off his posterior dorsal (butt). He entered th water at 0745, and hauled out again, 70 ft right of RIP at 3BS. The tendril was gone. He was officially 100% molted. He had last been seen on 10-1-10.

At 0908 Kolohe arrived , and hauled out between RIP and Mojo. Mojo moved over, but there was never any interaction. All three remained there the rest of the day, only moving up with the rising tide.

Because I was intent on getting these IDs, Marilyn did the Spitting Cave by herself. At 0752 she reported Buster at SC, and at 0807 called again to say that a 2nd, small, animal with a new coat had arrived. She departed for KP, and I got over to Spitting Cave at 0847. I found Duke by himself, with his brand new, and  perfect N18 showing. He was doing 8 minute dives.

I returned to Makai Pier and at 1128 the cast increased again. Sadie hauled out to 1BS, and remained there the rest of the day. I last saw her on 10-10-10.

At 0720 Team Billand checked in with the report of Irma at tower #1, White Plains.
Their next call came at 0822 with the report of Kermit at Kermit's Reef, on the west side of the Nimitz jetty.
At 1517 they called with the report of 4DF at Iroquois Point. Posse member Clay said he had arrived at 1430.

At 1100 Marilyn, reported Gigantic, gnarly waves, and two critters trying to survive the point. Initially she found Ka'ena on the rubble beach, and Kiko trying to haul out to her outside rocks, which the waves would not allow.She got blasted off her favorite perch. She finally came inside to the rubble beach, I don't think she has ever been that far inside before. Ka'ena got washed a few time too. At 1141 Marilyn called to add that our UM/CeeCee had arrived. She managed to get 3 shots before the last of her two batteries died. Her shots have satisfied Keith and I that it's CeeCee. We are awaiting Tracy's input.

Posse member Lesley checked in at 1235 with the report of huge , stormy waves, and two critters. She and fellow volunteer, Deera Gray Deena Gary found Right Spot on the Kakuhu side of the point, and Ua Malie at Fishermen's Point (the elbow).

Afternoon email from D. Schofield provided shots from Pua Kamaka of an animal just north of Kualoa Beach Park. Photographic evidence suggested KC, and at 1756 a call from The Donna (Festa) confirmed that she was there with KC. Check the blog for Donna's shots.

Duke

RIP, Kolohe and Mojo

Blog Lady sits with KC

Just want to say today's blog entry has to go on record as one of the longest.... This is hour two of uploading files.  I had intentions of writing a little blurb about the wonderful people I met today... Zac the life guard talking story about diving and having the "smart seal steal his catch" - Peter and Elise from Switzerland who just happen to stop and take a picture of chinaman's hat and found a little treasure - Pua and Stan who waited patiently for me to arrive. And Stan who returned in the evening and agreed to bring the signs to Pua if KC left (which she did at approx. 7:15pm) - of course I left at 7:00.  A very long day indeed. Lots of seals lots of waves lots of blog entries...