Monk Seal Monday #4

There are numerous ways to positively identify a monk seal, including: 1) Natural bleach marks; 2) Scars; 3) Plastic flipper tags; and 4) Applied bleach marks.

To the untrained eye, one monk seal may look just like another. And, sometimes, even those who have been trained and spent hours, days and weeks observing monk seals confuse one monk seal for another. That’s because not all seals are flipper-tagged and even those that are sometimes lose the plastic identification tags attached to their rear flippers due to breakage. Too, a monk seal’s wounds—say from cookie cutter sharks—heal quite quickly, so a once dependable identifying scar can fade. Even the temporary three-digit “bleach marks,” applied by a trained biologist with the aid of your standard, over-the-counter, hair dye (thanks Clairol!) disappears every year when the seal goes through its annual molt.

The ability to identify individual seals is important for the Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program to track seals throughout their lifetime to gain information about their movement patterns, survival, reproduction, health, and more.

On Kaua‘i, we regularly see 40 to 50 individual seals that we consider “resident” to the island. While some tend to favor Kaua‘i, we do know many move from island to island throughout the archipelago. Most recently, thanks to these unique ways to identify individual seals, two of those once seen around Kaua‘i have been spotted elsewhere.

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.)

Too, earlier this year, an adult female started hauling out on the rocks near Brennecke’s Beach in Poipu and was bleach-marked V76. Late last month, she was reported by divers off Hawai‘i Island.

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Field Report: March/April 2017

More new seals for Kauai.

On March 28 a juvenile male seal was first sighted on the North Shore. His only remarkable scar was a small cookie cutter shark bite on his left mid side. He quickly became a regular, so a team was put together to tag him with flipper tags 3CD and 3CE, making his official ID R3CD. He also received a morbillivirus vaccine.

PC: Thomton

A new adult female seal with a small pit scar on her right mid side also started to appear on the rocks at Brenneke’s beach, and continues to rest there regularly. She was bleach marked V76, and received her first morbillivirus vaccination.

RG22 dehooked.

PC: Thomton

On April 16, visitors snorkeling at Mahaulepu called the hotline to report that they had cut free a seal entangled on coral. They sent a video that identified it as juvenile male, RG22. The next day, he was sighted at Palamas, so a team was assembled to respond. Fortunately, even sporting the biggest hook we’ve ever come across, the team was able to cut and remove the hook that pierced the left corner of his mouth. The fishing gear was a slide bait rig used for ulua fishing and included the bait that looked like a Hawaiian white eel or Conger eel, known locally as Tohei.

RH92 returns to Lihi Canal.

PC: Fujimoto

After wildlife biologists and veterinarians relocated 10-month-old RH92 on March 30th from the Lihi Canal in Kapa‘a to a beach on the island’s west side, we’d hoped she would stay away from the canal. Unfortunately, she returned to the canal along with an adult seal (RK13). Together they’ve been seen feeding on small fish in the manmade waterway along with discarded fish parts. The return of RH92 to Lihi is prompting stepped-up public awareness and outreach and potentially enforcement of littering laws for fishermen who dispose of fish parts in the water.

Seals of concern.

RN02, subadult male, has demonstrated increased curiosity of people, pursuing swimmers and following the public up the beach. He is also interacting with scuba divers, taking fish from skin divers at Koloa Landing. He then hauled out on the boat ramp, undisturbed by divers walking past him to enter and exit the water. RN02 was displaced from the ramp using crowding boards. RN02’s curiosity also proved dangerous with marine debris, found around his neck, which he later escaped on his own. We hope this is just a part of reaching sexual maturity, but we are considering ways to curb his behaviors.

Another incident of concern made the evening news (click here) in which a dog owner should have moved away from the seal, but instead engaged the seal, and endangered both his pet dog (on a leash) and the seal.

Kauai Vaccinations have begun for 2017.

This year we will include females (except those within two months of pupping) in our morbillivirus vaccination program. This includes 18 males and 26 females. Coordinators will be busy trying to find these seals to give initial vaccines and boosters 3-5 weeks later, so we appreciate all your sightings!

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