Monk Seal Monday #181: Top Ten in 2022

Here’s another recap for 2021. This list identifies the top ten Hawaiian monk seals “reported” on Kauai during 2022. “Reported” seals are those that were called in—and identified—to the Hawaiian Monk Seal Conservation Hui hotline. (See a monk seal on the beach? Report it to 808-651-7668.)

However, what’s not included in this list are mom/pup reports. Because “pup watches” by dedicated volunteers tend to elevate pup “reported” numbers and because moms spend the first four to six weeks of their pups’ lives right by their sides, the reports of the mom/pup days are not included.

Keep in mind, other things affect this list. Monk seals often have favorite locations where they haul out. If a monk seal favors a location that happens to be easily accessible by humans, bingo, that seal will be reported more often to the hotline. Molting monk seals get reported more often, too. As well, young monk seals are often sighted and reported more, too, because they tend to hang around and make themselves noticed;-) Lastly, volunteers impact this number, too. Those dedicated volunteers who regularly scout certain beaches for monk seals (thank you very much) will also help inflate a certain seal’s confirmed reports.

Take a look at the Top Ten list for 2022:

1. RF28: 108 confirmed sightings. Born in 2014 to R028 (who died of toxo after valiant try by veterinarians to treat and save her). Bottom lip scar left side. Most telling ID: Natural bleach mark over left shoulder. left tag gone. Bottom right tag broken.
   
2. RK58: 104 confirmed sightings. Born on 7/16 in 2018 to RH58. Pup switch resulted in abandonment at 19 days age. Raised at Ke Kai Ola. Released from captivity on 2/11/2019. Returned to Ke Kai Ola for rehab 2/16/21 due to infected dog bites.
   
3. RG58: 97 confirmed sightings. Born 2015 to RH58. Natural bleach above tail, line scar left rear. One of our biggest males.
   
4. TempV11: 74 confirmed sightings. Subadult male/ bleached marked Feb. 2022 because too few scars to ID. Became a regular at Poipu in spring 2022. Pit scar mid back, scar left neck.
   
5. R371: 70 confirmed sightings. Niihau female w/pup 2017.  Large shark bite right rump and in front right fore flipper, natural bleach mark on top of head, pit scar base of left fore flipper, hook scar left corner of mouth, cookie cutter right shoulder, crescent flap scar belly. Likes to hang out at Mahaulepu and Shipwrecks.
   
6. RM36: 68 confirmed sightings. Nice big sub-abult female. Tagged 4/21/2021. Pup of RB00; born 3/15/2020. Cookie cutter scar on right shoulder.
   
7. R2XW: 67 confirmed sightings. Very small juvenile female from Niihau. Tagged 4/5/2021 at Glass Beach Eleele. 88 cm auxiliary girth. 
   
8. RQ52: 56 confirmed sightings. Born to R400 at Polihale on 6/25/2022. Nursed for 38 days. Translocated to safer location after weaning. Eventually, she moved back to the west side.
   
9. R7AA: 54 confirmed sightings. New small Niihau female seal to Kauai 6/2017. Monitored for back abscess, caught and treated and tagged 9/2017. Over the years she has demonstrated unique behavior when molting—moves high up the beach at night and onto resort furniture, parking lots and streets, so must be closely monitored.
   
10. RM28: 51 confirmed sightings. Born to RK28 in 2020. De-hooked in June 2022. Also involved in displacements at Poipu keiki pool.

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Field Report: September 2022

Monthly Update: The Kauai team logged 400 seal sightings this month. This included 41 individually identified seals.

• September: 400
• August: 320
• July: 311
• June: 283
• May: 248
• April: 294
• March: 292
• February: 233
• January: 233
• December: 267
• November: 168
• October: 229
• September: 251

New:

·       Nothing to report.

Updates:

·       Continue to closely monitor yearling RP32 who is in thin body condition. The seal is likely in pre-molt.

·       RK28 gave birth to PK3 (3^rd pup of the year for Kauai). The usual signage was erected and the pup watch schedule continued. The male pup is thriving, and weaned in early October (which will be reported in the next report).

Molting: 5 seals molted this past month.

Bleaching: 3 seals were bleach marked.

Vaccination: Vaccinated weaned pup RQ52.

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Field Report: August 2022

The Kauai team logged 320 seal sightings this month. This included 32 individually identified seals.

• August: 320
• July: 311
• June: 283
• May: 248
• April: 294
• March: 292
• February: 233
• January: 233
• December: 267
• November: 168
• October: 229
• September: 251
• August: 213

New:

·       RK28 gave birth to PK3 (3^rd pup of the year for Kauai) on the north shore. The usual signage was erected and the pup watch schedule continued. The male pup is thriving.

·       Closely monitored yearling RP32 who is in thin body condition. The seal is likely in pre-molt.

Updates:

·       RP28 – hooked and trailing line. Hook was non-life threatening in right corner of the mouth. Removed leader with metal swivel using a seat belt cutter mounted on a pole. Will monitor RP28, anticipate hook will come out on its own. UPDATE: seal was re-sighted several times this month and is hook-free; the seal threw the hook on his own.

·       An adult seal was sighted at Secret’s Beach with heavy line trailing from the mouth. The seal was chased off by an off-leash dog before staff arrived. The seal’s ID is unknown and no further reports of a hooked seal have been received. UPDATE: no further reports or sightings.

·       Pup translocation: female pup PK2 who was born at Polihale to R400 was immediately translocated to the north shore after weaning. The pup was tagged RQ52 (Q52/Q53 tags) and is thriving in her new location, socializing with many other seals in the area. UPDATE: the seal has remained in the release area and is thriving.

Molting: 3 seals molted this past month.

Vaccination: Vaccinated weaned pup RQ52.

Volunteers 

·       Trained 5 new volunteers

·       Volunteer pup watch schedule is in place for the pups and weaners on the north shore.

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Field Report: July 2022

Monthly Update: The Kauai team logged 311 seal sightings this month. This included 25 individually identified seals.

• July: 311
• June: 283
• May: 248
• April: 294
• March: 292
• February: 233
• January: 233
• December: 267
• November: 168
• October: 229
• September: 251
• August: 213
• July: 286

New:

·       An adult seal was sighted at Kauapea (a.k.a. Secrets) with a heavy line trailing from the mouth. The seal was chased off by an off-leash dog before staff arrived. The seal’s ID is unknown and no further reports of a hooked seal have been received.

Updates:

·       RM28 – dehooked in June has been resighted several times and the external hook injury has fully healed.

·       RP28 – hooked and trailing line. Hook non-life threatening in right corner of the mouth. Removed leader with metal swivel with seat belt cutter mounted on a pole. Will monitor RP28. Anticipate hook will come out on its own. Seal has not been resighted to confirm if hook is still present.

·       Pup translocation: female pup PK2 who was born at a remote location on the west side to R400 was immediately translocated to the north shore after weaning. The pup was tagged RK52 (Q52/Q53 tags) and is thriving in her new location, socializing with many other seals in the area.

·       PK1 was flipper tagged as RQ60 (Q60/Q61 tags) and has remained near her natal beach. The pup’s girth was an impressive 130 cm, which is on the large size. And standard length was 152 cm, nearly a foot longer than the average pup.

·       The severely mobbed seal temp614 was last sighted on July 7.

Molting: 3 seals molted this past month. 

Displacements from Poipu Keiki Pool: R2XW subadult female – 1 time

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Monk Seal Monday #170: Meet RQ52

Early last week, R400 weaned PK2 after 38 days of nursing. Because PK2 was born on a beach that sees heavy truck traffic, as well as, off-shore boat traffic (where she would be learning to swim on her own), it was decided to translocate PK2 to a safer beach elsewhere on the island–one with other monk seals present and an off-shore reef, providing her with a lovely lagoon in which to nose around and learn how to be a monk seal.

Prior to translocating, PK2 was tagged and is now, officially, RQ52–wearing a red tag with Q52 in the webbing on her left rear flipper and Q53 in the webbing on her right rear flipper. Her measurements were good for a healthy Hawaiian monk seal weaner in the Main Hawaiian Islands–133 centimeters long and 121 centimeters around below the fore flippers. She also received her first vaccination to protect her from morbillivirus and will be boostered in three weeks.

The translocation went smoothly with RQ52 sleeping in her transport carrier on a cool evening with some rain as the team drove through Kapaa. She was released about 50 yards from RQ60, who is about month older. Within a couple minutes, they found each and were left snorting and rolling around together on the beach.

By the next day, RQ60 had moved east down the coastline. Meanwhile, as recently weaned seals will do, RQ52 has approached other monk seals, attempting to nurse. In one case, adult male RN30 was not having it, nipping at her. She’s also been sighted hauled out near two-year-old RM36 and, on one occasion, a turtle.

RQ52 has also been spotted tossing around sea cucumbers. This is quite typical of newly-weaned pups as they decide what’s good to eat. Sea cucumbers are generally not something monk seals consume.

Volunteers are still needed to monitor these young Hawaiian monk seals. If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer, please email kauaiseals@gmail.com or call 808-651-7668.

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