Yesterday morning (Monday) we surprised to see a big rock on the sand in front of Kaaawa Beach Park. Then I noticed a couple of people looking towards the rock from a safe distance. Then the wheels spun and I realized it wasn’t a rock after all. It was a seal resting on the beach.
We always feel fortunate when our beaches serve as convenient rest stops for these wandering seals. What a treat for us!
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Beautiful Pix!
Our Hawaiian Monk Seals are now Critically Endangered & their numbers are declining.
To protect them, please call the Monk Seal Seal Sightings:
Call 808-220-7802.
Email sighting photos to: pifsc.monksealsighting@noaa.gov
& Report Entangled or Injured Seals:
Call 1-888-256-9840
We need more people in Ko’olau Loa to join the Monk Seal Volunteers! Join: http://hmsrto.org/
We really would like our Teens to join.
Learn about our monitoring our seals, keeping them safe & help keep dogs & people away from sleeping wild seals
Ian, you can see 2 Hawaiian Monk Seals up close and personal at the Waikiki Aquarium. And they have been trained to do some pretty cool tricks.
Aloha…
Well that looks like KC a female known to hang out in your area. In fact “KC” actually mean Kaaawa Critter.
Donna
Hawaiian Monk Seal Response Team Oahu
That is KC with her new Cookie Cutter Shark bite:)
Ian, hate to say it but we have a problem. On the one hand monk seals are moving into the main islands and seem to be decreasing in the northwestern islands, but in the main islands there is also a growing problem with monk seals and toxoplasmosis http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/hawaiian-monk-seals
which is only spread by cats.
It has been implicated in the death of the alala, the Hawaiian crow, and redfooted booby, as well as sea otters in California.
Basically it spreads via cat poop.
Should we be letting our cats run free to poop and then have their crap be washed into the ocean when it rains? Should we tolerate large numbers of feral cats?
Or do we want the alala and monk seal?
FYI. There is research being conducted regarding toxo and it’s impact on marine life. The best advise is to NOT flush scoopable kitty litter (our sewage treatments do not affect the toxo bacteria) and yes, if you are feeding a feral community, please do so AWAY from waterways and beach areas. Protect all life by using common sense. Mahalo
Ulu – thank you for your comments and concern! Interestingly, monk seals are NOT moving down from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The seal population up there is certainly declining. But the increase in the number of seals that we see here in the main Hawaiian islands is almost solely because the seals here SURVIVE WELL. Almost 80% of juveniles in the MHI survive from year to year. Almost 80% of juveniles in the NWHI die. The numbers are increasing here because the pups born here are surviving to grow up and have their own pups. It’s wonderful, but there are still threats that the seals face in the MHI (like toxo) and we still need to work to understand the problem in the NWHI!
Mahalo