Field Report: February 2022

Monthly Update: The Kauai team logged 233 seal sightings this month. This included 31 individually identified seals.

• February: 233
  January: 233
• December: 267
• November: 168
• October: 229
• September: 251
• August: 213
• July: 286
• June: 218
• May: 209
• April: 155
• March: 137
• February: 119

New:

·       Monk seal activity in the Poipu area remains high, with several seals hauled out daily on the very busy Poipu Beaches. 

·       Numerous new cookie cutter shark bites observed on various seals again this month. All wounds are healing normally.

Molting: Two seals molted last month at Poipu, a challenging location to manage seals that remain hauled out overnight for 10-14 days.

Volunteers:

·       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. 

·       Per state rules, all DLNR volunteers are required to be vaccinated. Olry has verified vaccination status of all active volunteers.

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.