Monthly Update: The Kauai team logged 286 seal sightings this month. This included 29 individually identified seals.
- July 286
- June: 218
- May: 209
- April: 155
- March: 137
- February: 119
- January: 125
- December: 119
- November: 133
- October: 152
- September: 152
- August: 198
- July: 120
New:
- A subadult male seal (ID: temp606) was found with a medium size circle hook and 9 feet of heavy trailing line. The line was trimmed, leaving 3 feet trailing. Five days later the seal we resighted hook-free, indicating the seal threw the hook on its own.
- The weaned male pup KP1 was found with a medium size circle hook and 4 inches of heavy trailing line. The hooking was not life threatening and was monitored. Seven days later, the seal was hook-free, indicating this seal threw the hook on its own, too.
- Instagram video submitted to NOAA of a female monk seals being mobbed by male seals off Lehua. Kauai staff notified PMRF biologists to look out for this seal, plan to assess and treat seal if found.
- Displaced two seals from the Poipu Keiki pool as part of the Poipu seal management plan.
- Return of visitors continuing to cause increased disturbance to seals across the island.
Updates:
- The female pup born at Polihale successfully weaned after 37 days of nursing. Daily pup monitoring by staff and volunteers minimized disturbance by trucks on the beach, surfers, swimmers, and campers. Due to the high risk posed by reckless beach driving common at Polihale, a thorough risk analysis was conducted to assess hazards the weaned pup would face after the mother departed. The analysis concluded that translocation from Polihale Beach to another remote beach was the safest management option for the pup. Therefore, the pup was captured, transported, flipper tagged, and vaccinated by the Kauai team, and released at another safer location. The seal is now tagged RP20, has remained in release area, and has been sighted socializing with other juvenile seals on a daily basis.
- Flipper tagging and morbillivirus vaccination for pup KP1 are planned for August.
- 3-year-old male R1NI washed ashore dead on the south shore in April. Gross necropsy did not reveal much, awaiting histopathology lab results.
- Subadult male seal RK58 was returned from KKO after 6 weeks of rehab and released on March 26. He was treated at KKO for likely dog attack injuries that resulted in significant weight loss and infected puncture wounds. Still no re-sightings of him since release.
- Due to COVID-19 stay-at-home measures, our new methods of monitoring continue, which include:
- Weekly surveys of key beaches conducted by NOAA and DLNR staff
- DAR staff conducting weekly island wide Creel Surveys
- PMRF staff continuing to send in routine reports and photos
- Requesting that people who call the hotline to report seals assist us by sending several photos and setting-up SRA signs or sticks.
Morbillivirus Vaccination: RP20 (KP2) received her initial vaccine this month.
Molting: 4 seals molted this month
Bleach Marking: 1 seal was bleach marked this month.
Volunteers:
- The volunteer response program was restarted in June after being on hold since March, 2020. Currently, volunteers are dispatched for hauled out monk seal reports to post signs, assess and ID the seal, collect routine data, and then depart the area. Outreach/education should be as minimal as possible to reduce COVID exposure risk. For busy locations, a spot check schedule will be established. This technique has proven effective and will continue until further notice.
- The training of new volunteers has been on hold due to COVID, but has now resumed.
Research/Support of PIFSC:
- Sub-sampled scat, molt, and tissue plug samples accordingly.
- Logged all seal sightings for PIFSC database. Organized photos and reported sightings, molt tallies, survival factors to send to PIFSC.
Kaua'i Seals 