A couple weeks ago, we shared the antics of RN02. Well, he’s not the only Hawaiian monk seal who logs unusual behaviors in the NOAA Hawaiian Monk Seal database. The subadult female known as R7AA has her own share of interesting notations.
Most recently, at 7:00 a.m. on Dec 6, a report was received on the hotline of a seal resting on the beach at Kiahuna Point, Poipu. One of our lead volunteers responded and found subadult female R7AA sleeping on sand with a medium sized circle hook in her left cheek and two feet of trailing monofilament.
Our DLNR and NOAA Hawaiian Monk Seal coordinators and several volunteers trained in capture techniques assembled on scene by 8:15 a.m. R7AA was sleeping on sand at the top of the beach next to naupaka vegetation. She was in good body condition; however, the hook tip was visibly protruding through the left cheek from inside the mouth. A minor infection was noted with some blood staining, but no swelling.
The team captured the seal (with approval from NOAA). A vise-grip pliers was used to hold the hook’s shank and push the hook’s tip through her cheek. The hook’s barbed tip was then cut off with a small bolt cutter, and the hook was easily reversed out of the mouth. A foul odor was detected along with blood staining on the fur below the mouth, and fresh blood flowed from the wound while removing the hook.
R7AA was immediately released and headed for the waterline. After 10 minutes, she moved back up the beach and spent the remainder of the day hauled-out in the same location.
Here’s a photo of the fishing gear that was removed from R7AA’s mouth. This contraption is used in slide bait fishing, often to catch giant trevally, known as ulua. (This is when we encourage fishers to use barbless fishing hooks. Also, if they realize they’ve hooked a seal, to report it to the Hawaiian monk seal hotline, no questions asked, at 808-651-7668.)
Here’s the capture team. They look so mild-mannered for monk seal heroes.
When R7AA was re-sighted yesterday, there was no visible wound, illustrating once again how the skin and blubber of Hawaiian monk seals have a great ability to heal.
While this was R7AA’s most recent incident. It certainly wasn’t her first. In fact, she was likely hooked before, and for a time, she sported a dive tag on her back. However, she has an unfortunate knack to haul out in unusual–and sometimes dangerous–places on the south shore. And she tends to do so around dark, as if she’s planning to settle in for the night. Not a good idea when she’s snuggling next to a car tire, on a road, or stretched across a sidewalk. One night she was all the way up by the ancient Hawaiian cemetery at Poipu Beach Park, that’s a good 100 feet from the water across about 50 feet of grass lawn.
The key is to head her off before she makes a risky journey.
So, with approval and training from NOAA, R7AA has been displaced away from roads, parking lots, and sidewalks a total of eight times. She’s been displaced out of the Poipu keiki pool twice. She is also one of the few seals to be displaced independently by trained volunteers who were authorized to encourage her to move out of harm’s way quickly, rather than wait for staff to arrive. Mahalo to our well trained and dedicated volunteers who have the experience and knowledge of how to safely move a large wild animal off a road and back into normal habitat.
Here’s a look at some of R7AA’s unusual choices for sleeping locations.
This last photo is included for its sheer oddity. It’s the remains of 30 small eels that she barfed up one day.