Monk Seal Monday (on Tuesday) #38

Maui recently reported the 30th pup born in the Main Hawaiian Islands this year. Thirty pups in one year is a record for the Main Hawaiian Islands, besting the previous high mark by a whopping nine pups. Turns out, the mom, R8HE, was flipper-tagged on Kauai as a juvenile. She’s estimated to be approximately six years old. This is her first known pup.

However, last year this time, we reported:

R8HE was a juvenile when flipper-tagged here in 2014, but she’s been regularly sighted around O‘ahu and reported as far away as Hawai‘i Island. Earlier this year, she appeared pregnant but then wasn’t seen for a couple months. She popped back up looking very thin, making HMSRP suspect she’d pupped in a remote place somewhere. (This happens even in the Main Hawaiian Islands.)

This kind of movement up and down the Hawaiian Island chain isn’t unusual. Some seals do like to journey long distances while others seem to stick to a few favorite haunts.

You may recall another voyager, R8HD, who seems to be making a tour of the Main Hawaiian Islands. He was sighted on Kauai, Oahu, and Molokai this summer. R8HD’s home place made national news recently when a hurricane roared through French Frigate Shoals. Various headlines reported one of the islands in the atoll was “wiped out,” “disappeared,” or “vanished” after taking a direct hit from Hurricane Walaka in early October. They were referring to East Island, an important pupping spot for Hawaiian monk seals and nesting site for Green sea turtles.

Photo credit: Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument/NOAA.

East Island wasn’t large by island standards in the Main Hawaiian Islands, measuring some half-mile in length and 400-feet wide before the hurricane. Now, not much remains. However, as ocean currents move sand around, there’s a chance some of the “island” will return.

The submergence of East Island wasn’t unexpected. But it was sudden, taking climate scientists by surprise. With the intensity and frequency of tropical storms and hurricanes expected to increase due to climate change, this is one way climate change is directly affecting Hawaiian monk seals today. There’s likely to be more storms like Walaka charging through the Hawaiian archipelago. And there are dozens more islands and islets the size of East Island–and smaller–on which Hawaii’s native wildlife depend for survival. In addition to entanglements with marine debris, competition for food resources, and sharks, now climate change can be added to the list of threats facing Hawaiian monk seals today.

 

 

 

 

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Field Report: September

Monthly Update:

The Kauai team reported 23 individually identified seals in September for a grand total of 199 seal sightings.

September: 199
August: 295
July: 414
June: 315
May: 332
April: 302
March: 299

Two things can heavily boost the number of reported sightings of monk seals throughout the month: The number of volunteers scouting beaches and the number of moms with pups on beaches around the island. Both these numbers tend to decrease in Fall and Winter months.

New:

A photo found on Instagram showed an adult seal at PMRF with mobbing wounds on the back. The wounds–indicating the seal is likely a female–appeared to be healing and looked similar to a seal reported previously on Niihau. Mobbing wounds are caused by male monk seals and have been observed in other females. The Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program reports this kind of male behavior can involve multiple males competing for an adult female or a single male targeting a younger seal. To read more about adult male aggression, click here.

The seventh Kauai pup for 2018 was born along Na Pali Coast. No photos have been received, but the report was confirmed by three reliable sources. Due to winter swells, it’s unlikely a team will be to assess or tag this mom/pup pair.

Bleach markings: 1 bleach mark was applied.

Molting: 3 seals molted at busy beaches this month.

Morbillivirus vaccinations: Two weanlings were booster vaccinated this
month.

Updated:

Last month, we reported that a male adult seal–flipper-tagged R8HD–had hauled out on a Kauai beach and per NOAA’s request be scanned for a PIT tag. A full-scan was surreptitiously performed while the seal slept but no PIT tag was detected. (Much like microchips inserted subcutaneously in dogs and cats, PIT, which stands for passive integrated transponder, tags are implanted in the posterior dorsum of most Hawaiian monk seals as a way to identify individual seals in case their unique flipper tags fall off.)

However, the Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program in Honolulu was able to identify him via photo-matching scars, and it was revealed R8HD was born in 1988 at French Frigate Shoals and his official ID is YF95. He moved to Laysan in 1995, and was retagged there in 1996. He was last sighted at Laysan in 2016. Then, in 2018 he surprisingly showed up tagless on Molokai where he was flipper-tagged for the third time. He next showed up on Oahu and, then, Kauai. He’s 30 years old, and he still looks in good condition. He was last reported on Kauai in early August.

Here are some images of the old guy taken on Oahu this past July. (Photo credit on all goes to B. Billand.)

(Photo credit: B. Billand)

(Photo credit: B. Billand)

(Photo credit: B. Billand)

(Photo credit: B. Billand)

(Photo credit: B. Billand)

(Photo credit: B. Billand)

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Field Report: August

Monthly Update:
The Kauai team reported 33 individually identified seals in August for a grand total of 295 seal sightings this month. This equates to 9.5 seals sighted and reported each day.

August: 295
July: 414
June: 315
May: 332
April: 302
March: 299

New

• A pup switch occurred for the first time on 7/20/18. RH58’s pup PK5 was forcefully taken by another mother RO28 who left her female pup PK4 alone on the beach. The Kauai team successfully reunited the correct moms with pups later that day. Another pup switch occurred on 8/2/18 when RH58’s pup PK5 was seen with another mother RK28 who had left her male pup PK3. Again, RH58 was alone but searching and calling for her pup. The Kauai team attempted to reunite the correct mothers to pups on 8/3/18. RK28 quickly took her pup PK3 back, however, RH58 rejected her pup and became aggressive toward him. The pup was left on the beach overnight in hopes that RH58 would reunite naturally. On 8/4/18, RH58’s pup PK5 was again found with RO28 at sunrise. RO28’s pup PK4 was nearby and began calling for her mother, who quickly left PK5 and rejoined PK4 without human interference. A final attempt at re-uniting PK5 with his mother RH58 occurred that morning of 8/4/18, however she continued to be aggressive toward the pup. The Kauai team captured PK5 (now permanent ID of RK58) mid-day on 8/4/18 and transported him to Lihue for USCG C130 transport to Ke Kai Ola for rehab.
• Three seal pups weaned and were flipper tagged in August.
• New adult male seal R8HD hauled out on Kauai after being flipper tagged on Molokai earlier this year. It was suspected this seal had been previously tagged, so the Kauai team was asked to scan the seal for a PIT tag, without disturbing the seal. A full scan was performed, no PIT tag was detected.

Updates:

• The first pup of the year, now weanling RK42, was de-hooked by the Kauai team on 7/28/18. A large j-hook with 5’ of 100 lb test monofilament leader with swivel attached was removed from the right side of the seals mouth. The pup has not been resighted since de-hooking.
• Bleach markings: No bleaches were applied.
• Morbillivirus vaccinations: The North Shore pups RKA4 and RKA6 were fully vaccinated against morbillivirus.

Research/Support of PIFSC

• Sub-sampled scat, molt, and tissue plug samples accordingly.

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