HONOKOHAU — A seal has taken over part of Dog Beach at Honokohau and she might be there a while. ADVERTISING HONOKOHAU — A seal has taken over part of Dog Beach at Honokohau and she might be there a
HONOKOHAU — A seal has taken over part of Dog Beach at Honokohau and she might be there a while.
The 8-year-old seal, known as Waimanu to most and H01 to researchers, is going through a “catastrophic molt,” where she will shed her top layer of skin and fur.
That makes it difficult for her to spend much time in the water, said Sylvester Orosco, response manager and animal care specialist with Ke Kai Ola Marine Mammal Center at Keahole Point.
“It’s a bad sunburn for all intents and purposes. If you have a bad sunburn, you wouldn’t want to go out swimming,” he said.
Currently, volunteers and staff from the Ke Kai Ola program are sitting nearby to remind people to stay the appropriate distance from Waimanu and provide information about her species.
It’s hard to say how long she’ll remain at the beach, Orosco said, as one of Waimanu’s molts has never been fully observed.
Her brother “peeled like a banana” and completed a molt in two weeks. But the best estimate is one or two more weeks at the beach.
Orosco said he balances the desire to people to use the beach, remain safe and protect the seal.
The group uses signs with red seals to indicate the distance to remain from the seal.
“There’s another reason we’re here, as people don’t see her,” said Cameron McDonald, a volunteer for Ke Kai Ola.
Waimanu’s dark coat makes her vanish in the shady section of the beach, also known as Alula Beach, she has been favoring.
Art Tarsa, also with Ke Kai Ola, said the signs were originally used for researchers who would be so intent on another object they would almost run into the animals.
Cameron and Tarsa have done this duty before, and Tarsa said locals are good about respecting the animals. Safety of humans is foremost on Orosco’s mind.
“She doesn’t have feet to run away or hands to block someone,” he said.
So her natural reaction is a bite, with teeth Tarsa described as something between a St. Bernard and small bear.
“It’s not worth it to get a good selfie pic, get bit and have a secondary infection,” Orosco said.
Although the potential bite is bad enough, Orosco said the probable secondary infection from the bacteria in a seal’s mouth is worse.
One dog who was not interested in getting too close to Waimanu was Leilani, the pet of Aleisa Lawson and her son Tain.
To ensure that, Aleisa and Tain kept a firm grip on Leilani’s lead during their visit on Sunday.
Aleisa Lawson said the dog hadn’t noticed the seal was present, but went into defense mode. That resulted in her barking and carrying on, leading the Lawsons to distract her until she was calm again.
The public has been excellent about respecting the seals across the island, Orosco said, which is vital for their resting.
Farther up the beach, Robert Jones is a regular visitor to the beach, often snorkeling in the area. He was packing up on Sunday after a day of photography and exploration.
He said it’s nice to see Waimanu around and doesn’t mind losing part of the beach to her.
“It’s her ocean, I just kind of swim in and enjoy it,” he said.
There are about 1,100 Hawaiian monk seals left in the world, according to NOAA, and their population is declining at a 4 percent annual rate.
That’s been partially compensated by births in the main Hawaiian Islands, which have increased since 2010, NOAA reports.
Of all the 25 years Aleisa Lawson has been coming to the beach, this is only the fourth time she’s seen a seal hauled out.
Orosco said there are five seals that live on the island, with several more as frequent visitors.
The volunteers wanted to stress leaving the animals alone.
“They’ll only be here a short time and they really need the space,” said McDonald.
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