Field Report: March 2022

Monthly Update: 

The Kauai team logged 292 seal sightings this month. This included 33 individually identified seals.

• March: 292
• February: 233
• January: 233
• December: 267
• November: 168
• October: 229
• September: 251
• August: 213
• July: 286
• June: 218
• May: 209
• April: 155
• March: 137

New:

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

·       New subadult male with bleach mark V11 (temporary ID of V11) is exhibiting concerning behavior by approaching people in the water with an obvious interest in humans and no signs of fear. Two displacements from Keiki Pool by staff also revealed the seal has no fear of humans, but instead boldly approaches crowding boards. Will continue to closely monitor this seal.

Molting: 1 seal completed a molt last month at Poipu, a challenging location to manage. The seal remained hauled-out overnight for 32 days and continues to remain in the Poipu area for much of the day.

Displacements: 3 seals were displaced from the Poipu Keiki Pool, per the management plan.

Volunteers

·       Held a new volunteer training for the first time since the pandemic began, trained 7 new volunteers.

·       The volunteer program has slowly transitioned from spot-checks to partial coverage of seals in busy areas, such as Poipu. This transition will continue to pre-pandemic style scheduled shifts in the Poipu area. However, outreach to the public is still a low priority and volunteers are instructed to monitor seals and the SRA from a moderate distance, rather than at the edge of the zone. In most other areas of the island, volunteers will respond to assess the seal, take photos, set signs, and then depart. 

·       The state requirement for volunteers to be vaccinated is no longer in effect, thus all volunteers are allowed to respond.