Field Report: February 2018

Sightings:

The Kauai team logged 259 seal sightings this month. This included 32 individually identified seals.

Feb: 259
Jan: 336
Dec: 270
Nov: 239
Oct: 225
Sep: 354

New Issues:

• RK90 returned after 6 week absence. Was large and pregnant on 12/28/17 and then sighted on 2/17/18 thin. Likely pupped on Niihau. This would be her first pupping.

Updates on previously reported issues:

• NG00 is likely still hooked and was not sighted this month. NG00 was observed with a circle hook in lower right lip. Sighted on Niihau in January. Photos match pictures sent in by fisherman along Kaumakani in September of a hooked seal. Seal in good condition, hook not life threatening, will attempt to de-hook next time hauled out on sand.
• Poipu Keiki Pool: 6 displacements took place this month. Listed below are which seals and how many total times they have been displaced from the keiki pool. Please remember displacements require skilled training and, as always, prior approval from NOAA. Please never attempt this on your own. But please do call the hotline (808-651-7668) when/if you find a monk seal in the Poipu Keiki Pool.
  • RN02 – 3^rd displacement
  • RG58 – 1^st and 2^nd displacement both this month
  • R339 – 4^th displacement
  • RV18 – 1^st displacement
  • RK90 – 3^rd displacement
• Morbillivirus vaccinations: All vaccines on Kauai have expired. No further vaccinations will occur for the time being.
• Bleach markings: 2 seals bleach marked this month.
• Molting activity: 1 seal molted this month.

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(P)update #41

It’s been a little over two weeks since RH92 was tagged. She has been busy exploring up and down the coastline near where she was born, and she’s been making a few friends, too–there’s Temp325, RN44, RN30, 3CU, RK05, RV18 and even recently de-hooked RF28 sporting a tracking device on his back. We have not witnessed her eat any sea cucumbers, as many weaners inevitably do, but she has tried seaweed. Basically, she’s just being a wild monk seal and doing a good job of it, at that.

Here are a few photos of her escapades.

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

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(P)update #29

RK22 and PK2 had a couple swims today that totaled over four hours and were interrupted for three feedings and a variety of company. In one photo below, you can see a turtle, RN44, RV18, mom and pup. 3CU was also in the area.

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

By now, PK2’s teeth have started to erupt through her gums. Monk seals have two pair of eight teeth each for a total of 32, just like humans.

Photo credit: G. Langley

Here’s PK3. No confirmed gender yet. Still learning how the body works!

Photo credit: G. Langley

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(P)update #25

PK2 just keeps on getting bigger. And RK22 smaller.

Two swims today one of an hour and a half, then another one hour and forty-five minuets. Three feedings observed.

Males RV18 and RK05 both visited both locations but did not haul out. Also had 3CU and Temp 325 in the area.

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

Meanwhile, PK3 learns about body control.

Photo credit: G. Langley

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(P)update #15

Mom/RK22 and pup/PK2 were in and out of the water today, racking up a total of four hours swimming. In between, they made good use of a good chunk of the beach.

Throughout the day, five feedings were observed. Speaking of feeding, here’s an interesting fact: The bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) (Mohr, 1952) and the monk seal are apparently the only phocids having four functional teats.

Three male visitors–V18, R336 and 8HY–made visits with just R336 attempting an approach.

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

 

 

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(P)update #14

It’s a girl! We have confirmed our newest Kauai pup is a female.

PK2 turned two weeks old yesterday. In the next week or so, she will start her first molt. That is, lose her shiny black natal coat–often called lanugo. Her molt will happen a single hair at a time. Watch for her muzzle to start to take on a whitish tinge. Typically, new hair will grow in on the face, chest, neck and sides first. Once this process starts, it accelerates quite rapidly until, typically, by the time her mother–RK22–will wean her, she will sport a silvery dorsal and a milky white ventral coat.

Lots of action today. Three males checked on mom–R336, V18 and 8HY. R336 and V18 kept mom busy and 8HY was allowed to get within a few feet of the pup before V18 barged in and ran him off.

Three swims today totaling 3.5 hours in the water. Four feedings observed.

As he has almost every day since RK22 pupped, the male V18 came by for a look-see.

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(P)update #11

It was another seal-y day. This time, a female, R313, hauled out about 40 feet away from mom, RK22, and pup, PK2. There was no interaction until the male RV18 showed up. Only this time, his interests were focused on R313.

Mom and pup logged an early morning two-hour swim, and a one-hour-and-ten-minute swim in the afternoon. Four feedings were observed throughout the day. 

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

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(P)update #10

Seems mom/RK22 and pup/PK2 had a busy day today. Our volunteers logged two swims lasting two hours each and five feedings. Plus, three males–R8HY, RK05, and RV18–all paid visits, causing some displaying that is all part of the social dynamics of these animals. Mostly, the males are posturing to let mom know they’ll be ready when she goes into estrus again some time after pup is weaned. Sometimes, a male simply hauls out and sleeps on the beach somewhat near mom and pup. He may inch or roll toward her. All moms respond differently, but if/when a male gets too close, mom will raise up and give him a piece of her mind, and the male will back off if not leave the beach altogether. If a second male appears, the two males may tussle, typically with the more dominant one staying and the other swimming off. There is rarely physical harm done to any of the seals involved, but important messages of hierarchy are being communicated.

Of note is R8HY. Until quite recently, he’d been sighted regularly on O`ahu, perhaps a 100-mile journey, giving you an idea of the distances these seals can travel.

Photo credit: V. Bloy

Photo credit: V. Bloy

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

 

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(P)update #9

Mom and pup were on the move today, exploring the nearshore reef and eluding our top volunteer team for a time. When RK22 and PK2 finally did haul out on the beach, they did so quite a ways from their natal birth site–and within sight of RV18. Four feedings observed today.

You’ll notice in the last photo below, PK2 is investigating a chunk of plastic. It appears to be a broken fishing buoy. Marine debris is a significant threat to the survival of Hawaiian monk seals.

According to NOAA:

Hawaiian monk seals have one of the highest entanglement rates of any pinniped species, and pups are the most often entangled. From 1982-2014 a total of 347 seals have been found entangled in marine debris, of which 237 (68%) were rescued, 93 escaped unaided, 9 died, and the fate of 8 others is unknown. About 96% of all entanglements have been observed in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), however, due to the remoteness of these islands, it is unknown how many additional seals drown or die from entanglement when researchers are not present. [Source: NOAA.]

These forms of entanglement include: nets, lines, straps, rings, hagfish/eel traps, bucket rims, bicycle tires, rubber hoses, and more.

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

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(P)update #7

Today, PK2 turns one-week old, and even our volunteers are telling us the pup is plumping up. Let’s run some numbers. Say PK2 weighed 25 pounds at birth. And let’s say mom weans it at five weeks when pup weighs 150 pounds. That means pup is gaining 25 pounds per week. Or 3.5 pounds per day! So, pup has already doubled its weight. Crazy, huh! All the weight gain comes from RK22/mom’s milk alone. That’s some rich milk.

Mom and pup had about an hour long swim early and spent most of the rest of the day napping and feeding. A male, RV18, paid them a little visit mid afternoon.

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

Photo credit: G. Langley

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