Field Report: November 2022

Update: 

The Kauai team logged 243 seal sightings this month. This included 30 individually identified seals.

• November: 243
• October: 277
• September: 400
• August: 320
• July: 311
• June: 283
• May: 248
• April: 294
• March: 292
• February: 233
• January: 233
• December: 267
• November: 168

New:

·       A dog barked at and chased a seal into the water at Salt Pond Beach Park. No contact was made between the seal and dog. DOCARE quickly responded and issued a citation to the dog owner who made no attempt to intervene and continued to allow the dog to roam freely. 

Updates:

·       Five large dogs harassed and possibly bit two adult seals at Makua (a.k.a Tunnels Beach) near Cannon’s surf break. It appeared one man brought all five dogs to the beach and allowed them to run off leash and did very little to stop them from harassing and chasing the seal off the beach. Photos were submitted of the dogs’ owner, and sent to DOCARE, OLE, and Humane Society for further action. All seals seen in the area since are in good health and show no signs of dog bite injuries.

·       Continue to closely monitor yearling RP32 who is in thin body condition. The seal is likely in pre-molt and has been hauling out at his birth beach.

Molting: Two seals molted this past month.

Bleach Marking: Five seals were bleach marked (many new Niihau seals in the Poipu area).

Vaccination: Booster vaccinated weaned pup RQ78.