5AY & P02 Tuesday Evening

Aloha Good People!

Malia and I sat down on the beach park side of the property. Resident Scott Allen who is responsible for many "COOL" shots stopped by with his cameras. We talked about Sunday morning when the pup got snagged. He produced some incredible photos. I asked if he could take a couple close up of the pup's left eye, in that earlier I noted some discoloration.... not sure if it was a "cut" or weird lighting. Of course P02 did not cooperate while Scott was there.

I was suddenly distracted by two young (3-4 month old) puppy dogs running onto the beach from the property next to Bernard! OY! The puppies were pretty good about following me back onto the property but there was no-one home and nothing to secure them with... It took several attempts of sneaking away without their following back to the beach. FINALLY the owner came home. Malia and I explained the reasons we were there watching over Mom and Pup and how dangerous it is to both seals as well as his dogs. He said he would rig something up tomorrow. Please keep your eyes open!

Well that does it for me, it's been a long day.... some of this and some of that! ~donna~

DB Post Tuesday June 17th

Kerby,RB08.Sadie&RIP@RI, Irma@IR, Rocky@SB, 6-17-08
The first order of business was to check Irma's , and sure enough there was Irma right where I'd left her last night. I repositioned the signs and restrung the rope, and continued the adventure.

The Rabbit Island cast was Kerby, who managed to stay alone all day, and the girls RB08, and Sadie. Both of them had to deal with RIP who was being a typical "cruiser male " today, and lookin' for chicks to hangout with.

Tracy called at 0738 with a hotline call about an animal at Sandy Beach, and when I arrived at 0745 there was Rocky on the beach, at the Half Point break. She remained there all day. As a matter of fact both she and Irma are still at there respective locations, and I'll be rechecking them at dusk. Aloha, DB

Hooked on a Feeling.....

The pup was swimming beyond the seal zone, beyond the outer reef and Karen Bryan noticed Mom had a squid in her mouth and pup was pulling at it. Perhaps a foraging lesson.

Mom and pup went closer to the island and to where the fisherman was. Robert went to check and seemed ok out there and he spoke to the fisherman. Karen said she would go to the park side to check and so I went with her too to feed my anxious mind. We were all concerned. As we ran towards the area Mom and Pup were...Robert calls me on our walkie talkie that indeed the pup had a hook in its mouth. We futher checked things out and made a decision to call David right away.
It was a sickening site to us all. The time it took for David to come and assess the situation was agonizing. Schofield called Dr. Bob, Tracy Wurth, Brenda Becker out. As soon as Dr. Bob arrived he also said the hook needs to come out. Dr. Bob and David waited for the seals to come on over to the sandy shore, waited till the pup fed........... (and the experts did their magic) Dr. Bob pulled the hook out...this all happening in one minute!!!!!! But it seemed so much longer watching it all. Brenda timed it to the start of dehooking and it was one inute...incredible.

Thats not all a second seal showed up and that one turned out to be....Rosie...030-031. A pup we encounted at Pokai Bay area on Mothers Day, May 11, 2008. So...we met this female seal Mothers Day and now for the second time on Fathers Day. What an amazing coincidence. It was an emotional day but a good ending. The photo you printed was taken by Robert just before the dehooking to show just how the hook was in its mouth, and the line entangled in its body. And the bait still on the set up. Poor baby. And Mom checked the pup out really good and they landed right where pup got hooked up and basked in the sun. End of story. Sorry took so long...we were so busy. Barbara

photo by Scott Allen (resident Northshore)

DB Post Monday June 16th

Kerby,RB08,Sadie,RIP@RI,Rocky@DH,Irma@IR, 6-16-08,+ PO2
The Rabbit Island cast was Kerby and the girls, Sadie and RB08, and RIP. Colleen Heyer called at 0815 to report that Rocky was at DH, and had probably overnighted. I confirmed the Rocky ID at 0934. Per Colleen , Rocky was still there at of 1700.

At 1245 I found Irma at the west end of Irma's . She remains there at this writing.

White Plains lifeguards reported an animal on their beach, but when Team Billand arrived the animal was gone. They check down to the Nimitz Jetty and found nothing, however beach goers had seen 2 animals trying to haul out, but they did not. Team Billand then continued on the Campbell Industrial Park, and finding nothing, called it a day at 1600.

Speaking of Team Billand, I am attaching their awesome shots of PO2's fish hook nightmare from yesterday. Fortunately, the NOAA folks successfully dealt with it. Thank you to Team Billand. I don't know what I'd do without you. ( or all of the rest of you for that matter !) Aloha, DB

Scott's Photos of KC & P03

Aloha Good People!

Volunteer Scott Davis sent in these photos of P03 and KC.... Little guy is a porker! Scott observed the pup was having trouble nursing... his impression was Mom was a little low on dairy. (scott noted photos were taken from a distance).... Mahalo Scott! P02 & P03 will be tots on the go pretty soon!

DB Post Sunday June 15th

Kerby,RIP,RB08@ RI, Rocky@DH,RO30@ NS,P02 Incident
Kerby, RIP and the little Molokai female, RB08 , were the Rabbit Island cast today. Kerby ventured into new territory, hauling out at the Left Middle Cliff (LMC) area at noon. This marks the first observed haul out beyond his birth site at the Second Blue Sign (2BS). My boy is exploring.

Colleen Heyer called to report that Rocky was at Diamond Head, and the Billands reported that Rose (RO30) another of the little Molokai females was just north of the R5AY site.

R5AY's pup got a fish hook today. NOAA personnel responded and removed the hook. Aloha, DB

By Hook or By Crook

Aloha Good People!

This story begins on Saturday June 14th. It was noted some people (young adult males) fishing with poles just south of the SPZ. Saturday evening, Auntie Sharon, Auntie Dana and myself had a growing concern that there were 5 poles in the sand and were often left unattended. We could not get to the area without trespassing, or getting too close to Mom and Pup. We decided to call in the information to David & Tracy from NOAA and gave them the details. I also called DB for my own peace of mind.

Well nothing happened overnight, BUT sometime after 9:00 AM while the Billands were on site our little pup got snagged by the hook. They approached the fishermen and when the line was pulled in it snapped... They watched and determined for sure the pup was hooked. Immediately called into David... the ball was set in motion. David, Tracy, Barbara Becker, volunteers and a vet were able to distract Mom, get to the pup and free him of the hook. A well planned intrusion took less than one minute! Mom and pup are fine!

This is a good example of keeping an eye on the surrounding area. Although the fishermen "technically" did nothing wrong it was certainly a dangerous set-up for Mom and Pup. I know there wasn't anything I could do last night, and I don't know if a woman approaching a fisherman in the middle of nowhere would have been a "safe" option. So Volunteers you see something that doesn't look right... call it in, better safe than sorry! ~donna~

click on photo to enlarge

DB Post Saturday June 14th

Kerby,Kermit,RIP,Buster&Sadie@RI, Irma@KBP,Rocky@DH&Pooh(RO38)@CIP, 6-14-08
The Rabbit Island was pretty routine except for the surprise visit from Kermit, an adult male. He is a regular out this way, but has been staying mostly in the SW quadrant for quite a while now. I suspected I might see him when the White Plains guys and the Billands weren't seeing him over on that side, and with Irma over here, I thought he might be looking for her. Lo and behold there he was with Buster and RIP on RI. Kermit and Buster were on LPB all day, and RIP was trying to be, but he and Kermit had a definite problem. Kermit was in hyper-aggressive mode, and was intent on denying RIP access to his "boy toy" Buster. Each time (it was a 12 round battle), that RIP attempted to haul out it brought a bellowing charge by Kermit, with lots of full body contact. RIP lost every round, but never backed off and kept on trying. Finally, he gave up in the afternoon and hauled out for a snooze at the right end of the island.

I found Irma this morning amongst the off shore rocks at Kaupo Beach Park (KBP), the "beach park" across from the back entrance to Sea Life Park. She remained off shore out on some rocks until the tide drove her off at around 0945. I did not see her again today.

The Billands found Pooh (RO38) at two separate locations at Campbell Industrial Park (CIP) today.

Tracy called at around noon with the report of an animal at Diamond Head, and I started to responded, but fortunately, contacted Rachel, at Colleen Heyer's house, and she went down and put up signs, and confirmed that it was Rocky. Aloha, DB

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.

DB Post Friday June 13th

I had a Rabbit Island cast of Kerby, RIP and R301, and that was it for me. The Billands checked the SW quadrant and also found nothing, and there were no other calls.

Unfortunately I had a DOCARE Incident, which began at 0938 with an orange 2-man kayak with a male and female aboard, and a green 1-man kayak with a male aboard, departed Kaupo Beach Park, hauling out on RI at 0946, 120 ft right of 3BS. ......edited.................Aloha, DB
(sorry but I took it upon myself to edit this information and not make it public on the blog. In the event this involves any type of litigation it is best if the information stays in the context of the DOCARE report. If and when the information is no longer relevant I can make it available ~donna~).

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~

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DB Post Thursday June 12th

Kerby,Buster,RIP & an U/U@RI, 6-12-08
The first order of business was to check Irma's. Rocky had departed , so I picked up the stuff and continued on. There were no other Rocky reports today, so I have no idea what she is up to.

Rabbit Island was the only action in my life today. Kerby and Buster were again a team. I saw Kerby in the water by himself in the morning, but on a later check, he and Buster were crashed on the beach. There was an U/U at the right Middle Cliff area in the morning (possibly R301 ? ), and RIP was at the far right end of the beach. That was the extent of my day. Aloha, DB

5AY & P02 Photos from June 8th

Aloha Good People;

This series of photos from volunteer Laura H. were taken on Sunday June 8th. I really like the one where P02 is SO round he looks like he's about to roll on the rock. Thank you Laura for being so generous and sharing with the rest of us! ~donna~

Click on Photo to enlarge

DB Post Wednesday June 11th

Kerby,Buster,RIP,Sadie &R301@RI, Rocky@Irma's,Ka'ena@KP, 6-11-08
To my shock and awe, I found Rocky waiting for me at Irma's, at 0613. On a check of Sandy Beach after getting Rocky cordoned off I found fresh wallow signs, and fresh track back to the water with lots of dog tracks. I think Irma's might have been Rocky's 2nd choice. Rocky had lots of company on the beach, since it was a holiday, but she was still there when I checked her at 1600. I'll return to check her at dusk.

The Rabbit Island cast was Kerby, Buster, RIP, Sadie and R301. Kerby and Buster were interacting when I got my first look at 0727. With nuisance nudging Buster managed to get Kerby rolling toward the water. When I got back to the pier later on, they were close together on the beach, with RIP near by. All were at the left end of the island. Sadie was down near 3BS, and R301 further to the right. Nothing of any consequence happen through the rest of the day.

Joanna Tabor checked in with a Ka'ena shot from Ka'ena Point today. Thank you Joanna. Aloha, DB

5AY & P02 Northshore site

Aloha Good People!

Just a quick note because its been a LONG day.... Malia and I removed all the original red/orange fence. We left the south barrier running from the road to the shore next to the original spz. We then created another barrier closer to Bernard's house running from the road to the shore line.... we also tied the a-frame sign to a tree (so the tide doesn't get it). And finally we came around through the beach park and ran a 3rd barrier running from the property line to the shore line.

This evening mom and pup had 2 feeding sessions and stayed basically on the beach in front of Bernard's property... Also to clarify... Bernard doesn't want us on his property.... BUT it's okay if we are on the beach... just we need to keep out of the site line of the seals.

I look forward to seeing a lot of you at the workshop this week! ~donna~

DB Post Tuesday June 10th

Kerby,R301 & U/U @ RI, Irma@SB, Rocky@DH, RSF@Pipeline & R302@ EB,6-10-08
The day began with a call from Mary Jane reporting R302 (aka Tiny Tim/Yoda) on the beach at Ewa Beach. Though the Marys got signs up, the ungrateful little dude departed while MJ and I were on the phone.

Kerby and R301 were on the beach at the left end of Rabbit Island when I arrived for the first look. When I got back Kerby was in the water. I didn't glimpse him again until 1313. Shortly thereafter he hauled out to the rock flats at the left end of the island. On pan I found an adult sized animal in a tide pool at the right end of the island but I was never able to ID the animal.

In the space of 30 seconds I got 4 calls about an animal hauling out at Sandy Beach. (Apparently the posse is workin' well) When I arrived at 0836 I found Irma. I got her cordoned off, and she was still there at my 1600 check. I'll return at dusk to see what her plan is going to be.

Tracy called at 1025 with the two reports. Right Spot was at Pipeline , on the North Shore, and Rocky was at the bunker at Diamond Head. Colleen confirmed the Rocky ID.

A friend just returned from a San Francisco trip, and sent the attached. It could be worse. Aloha, DB

WARNING: These are not monk seals! do not get nervous, this is not a management nightmare. Just DB's sense of humor!

Monday June 9th 5AY and P02

Aloha Good People!

I spent this afternoon out on the North Shore with 5AY and P02.... As you can see the boy is bulking up (photos from Karen Bryan from 6/8 ) I did take some photos and have a little movie of mom and pup going for a swim. I'll post as soon as I have a moment to download.

Some issues on the site went out via email to the volunteers and I am hopeful it will all be resolved as long as we continue to communicate. There were 5 nursing events, data was a little difficult again due to the position and some of the property limitations, and its not easy with just one person. The boy is growing strong and really good in the water, although it took mom some time to coax him into water. They went for two long swims lasting over 30 minutes each. Property owner reported they started swimming out to the little island and back as of yesterday. Thats the scoop for today..... ~donna`

DB Post Monday June 9th

Kerby, Buster & R301@ RI, RIP@ HB, 6-9-08
Kerby experienced his first observed encounter today. The RI cast was Kerby, Buster (his 3 year old brother), and R301, another subadult male. Buster and R301 were snoozing close together at the left end of the beach, when Kerby hauled out at 0914. Kerby moved up the incline and Buster saw him coming, and began moving down to meet him. First contact was at 0925. It began with gentle, tentative nose to nose touches. Buster then began to make more full body contact, but there was never any heavy duty climbing on or rough behavior. They both moved to the water, and interaction continued in the shallows , but with the rough conditions I could only get the occasional glimpse. Kerby hauled out at 0950 and Buster initially followed, however Buster stopped at the water line, while Kerby moved up and to the right. Buster then returned to the wate and ultimately hauled out to join R301 again. Though all 3 animals remained on the beach all day, there was no further contact, or action.

I had called it a day and had just popped my 1st Becks, preparatory to beginning the dailies, when Betty called from HB, at 1659, asking if anyone had reported an animal, to which the answer was no. Apparently Rich had noticed an animal at around 1420, but everyone assumed that I already knew about it. When I arrived at 1713 I found RIP. Obviously both he and I had been looking for Rocky all day , and neither of us found her.

DB Post Sunday June 8th

Kerby,R301 & Sadie@RI, Irma@Irma's, Rocky&RIP@HB&SB, 6-8-08
I found Kerby heading for the water at 0623 and did not see him on land again, today. I couldn't see him from the pier, but from The Makapuu Overview he was visible, just lolling in he water and slowing swimming at the left end of the island.

The rest of the RI cast were Sadie and R301 at the 3BS.

Irma remained in the SE quadrant. She hauled out at Irma's this morning at 0618, and remained there all day. When I checked her at dark, she had departed.

Rocky and RIP kept me busy today. Betty from Hanauma Bay called at 0817 reporting 2 animals just hauling out to the left side rock flats. When I arrived I found Rocky & RIP. Later in the day Jack called from HB at 1249 to report that R&R had departed at around 1130. Three minutes after that call, I got another from a SB lifeguard reporting two animals just hauling out at the east end of SB. When I arrived I found Rocky & RIP once again. RIP is way to freaking to handle the SB crowd situation, and he departed at 1400. Rocky however, remained there, and in fact is still there at this writing (2000).

Karen Harris checked in by text message reporting that she'd seen Benny, Ka'ena and RO38 at Ka'ena Point today. There are no photos at this writing. Aloha, DB

I think this photo is the best! We need to get the kids involved, they are the ones that have the most to gain by protecting these animals. The more knowledge they have the more they can accomplish. Love thier sand creations! ~donna~