PO‘IPU — Residents and visitors have their beaches back in Po‘ipu after federal personnel, lifeguards, and monksealkauai volunteers netted the newly weaned Hawaiian monk seal pup and transported it to an undisclosed North Shore location Sunday afternoon. “We have a
PO‘IPU — Residents and visitors have their beaches back in Po‘ipu after federal personnel, lifeguards, and monksealkauai volunteers netted the newly weaned Hawaiian monk seal pup and transported it to an undisclosed North Shore location Sunday afternoon.
“We have a weaning pup,” said Brad Ryon, wildlife manager with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service. Ryon’s call came in this weekend, and he added that the mother Hawaiian monk seal swam off and not returned for a number of hours.
However, later that evening, the mother returned, and the pair spent the night back in their Po‘ipu habitat, lately at the birth site, Po‘ipu Beach Park.
The next day, Jean Souza, another NOAA official, reported that the pup had taken off on its own, and made its way from the beach fronting the Sheraton Kauai Resort all the way back to the keiki pond at Po‘ipu Beach Park, that venture again closing the beaches at the public park.
Souza explained that a decision was made during the day to relocate the pup because even if the mother returned, she would not know where the pup had ventured to.
With the aid of a veterinarian, a lifeguard from Po‘ipu Beach Park, and a crew of volunteers from the monksealkauai program, the pup was netted and relocated.
Using plastic pipes and duct tape, Ryon fashioned a scoop net to snare the pup, which was transferred to a stretcher made out of netting for the move to the back of a waiting pickup truck.
Ryon explained that the weaned pup was relocated to a site where the Maha‘ulepu pup born earlier had been moved to last week. He hoped that the two pups would be able to adapt to each other and grow together.
A larger-than-normal audience crowded the rope barrier as the adventure began shortly after 4:30 p.m., and the experienced crew snared the pup, which had ventured into the water by this time.
“This is an emotional moment,” Souza commented during the operation. Souza was the Kaua‘i federal sanctuaries contact who spent countless hours coordinating volunteers as well as keeping track of the seals’ movements over the six-week period since the Po‘ipu pup was born on Aug. 3.
Ryon was also very visible during the six-week period leading to the weaning over the weekend, and as he perched alongside the pup, could not help but wave to the volunteer group as the truck left the Po‘ipu Beach Park with its cargo. “See you at the next one (birth),” he said.
Armed with buckets of sea water, the transport was made to the undisclosed site where the pup was tagged and its gender verified before being released back into the ocean. It is believed the Po‘ipu pup is a female, a good sign for an endangered species whose numbers are believed to be only 1,300.
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
