PO‘IPU — Mom and pup are doing fine, according to a consensus among the monitors of the endangered Hawaiian monk seal pup born Tuesday at a beach fronting the Castle Resorts’ Kiahuna Plantation in Po‘ipu.
Dr. Mimi Olry, the Kaua‘i Marine Conservation coordinator, noted that one of the volunteers reported that at one point on Wednesday, mom had “pinned” the tail end of the pup, this situation lending credence to her suspicion that the mom who gave birth Tuesday is a “first-time mom.”
Olry said officials at the nearby resorts have been great in working with the volunteers.
More specifically, Olry said, “The Marriott Waiohai (Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club), Castle Resorts, Outrigger, and the Sheraton, have been great.”
The Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club leaders opened up their Marketplace lobby so training sessions for volunteer observers can be held twice daily through this Sunday, Sept. 4, and leaders of other resorts have stepped forward to try and accommodate the volunteer effort, she said.
Still, more volunteers are needed to help with the monitoring duties, as well as answer questions from the beach-goers utilizing the popular beach, said Jean Souza, the Kaua‘i coordinator for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary (HIHWNMS), who is helping out with the effort.
The free, hour-long training sessions are scheduled for 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Souza said volunteers can come to the training sessions to sign up.
Following the Sunday-evening seminar, Souza said they will reevaluate the attendance figures and determine how frequently and where they need to hold additional training programs.
She said that if there is an insufficient amount of people, they might consider moving the training to the observation sites, depending on how many trained volunteers are on duty.
Several of the volunteers who turned out for the Wednesday-night session are visitors who opted to sign up for early shifts because they were leaving the island.
“I really wanted to see a monk seal,” said a visitor from New Jersey who was taking in the sight of the mom and pup Thursday morning. “When I saw the group, I asked one of the hotel people, and was told it was a monk seal. At first, I thought it was just rocks.
“Not only did I get to see a monk seal, I got to see a mom and her pup,” the excited visitor said, rushing off to get her children.
Additionally, Olry, Souza, and the other volunteers are anticipating a heavy-traffic weekend due to the Labor Day holiday this Monday, Sept. 5.
Souza noted that several off-island personnel from both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the HIHWNMS will be arriving on Kaua‘i to help the local contingent of volunteers. Souza, who is currently tending to her own family emergency off-island, will join the volunteers to help during the long weekend.
To volunteer, or for more information on the volunteer program, people may contact Souza at 651-1457.
To alleviate the inconvenience of visitors trying to make their way along the shoreline, Olry explained that they erected a temporary walkway along the high-water mark, which allows pedestrians to continue their beach journey without having to detour around the involved resort properties.
“This is only a trial,” Olry stressed. “So far, it looks like having the wind-screen material hasn’t affected the mom. She hasn’t looked at it all morning. It’s working great!”
But, Olry is concerned about the rising tide, which she said would be at one of the highest levels soon due to the new moon.
She also stressed that people using the trial walkway should be quiet, although the temptation to stop and watch the pair is great. More-spacious observation points are at either end of the walkway, and visitors can watch the antics of the new pup from those points.
If the monk seals react to the trial walkway adversely, it will be removed, she said.
Throughout Thursday morning, a steady stream of beach-goers, some with surfboards over their heads, took advantage of the shortened route between beaches, everyone heeding the volunteers’ suggestions and advice.
Bruce Parsil, one of Souza’s assistants who was handling the volunteer-training seminars, noted that the Hawaiian monk seal is the most endangered species in the United States, and the second-most endangered species among seals, next to the Mediterranean monk seal.
The population of the Hawaiian monk seal is estimated to be between 1,300 and 1,400.
Parsil, who also volunteers at the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, pointed out that the monk seal is endemic to Hawai‘i, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world, though they do populate some of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
Monk seals have been swimming around the oceans for about 15 million years, and have earned the name “living fossils” because they have remained relatively unevolved.
The Hawaiian name for the monk seal is ‘ilio-holo-i-ka-uaua,” which translates to mean “the dog that goes in the rough water.”
