Hawaiian Monk Seal - Tag V08 - Lanai Lookout

[VBlueV]

with southerly winds and flat surf on the south-east corner of oahu..
my buddy "chance" (his real name) and i dove lanai lookout saturday morning.

first dive we entered at the exit and dove almost to hanauma bay..
to the large rock quarry.

second dive we entered at the normal spot above the large swim-thru..
then went way left toward blow-hole..

we were at our turn-around point on the vast sloping "live" coral field..
when i saw a dark silouette of what appeared at first to be a very large turtle
with a pregnant belly.. (relax.. i know turtles lay eggs)..

when the figure got closer, i realized it was a monk seal.. (sorry no camera today)
however, i learned from last spring when i saw an 8-foot monk seal at sharks cove..
to look for its tag number so the folks tracking 'em can mark its location.

we saw it.. it saw us.. but made no maneuvers to veer away.. just stayed its course.
it swam within 10 feet of me.. and i immediately focused on trying to read its "tail-number"
as the 6-foot seal passed, i saw the two red tags on its hind flippers..
one was faced toward me.. and it read: "V08"

Hawaiian Monk Seal - Tag V08 - Lanai Lookout, 11:30am, 20fsw, hdg SW

 

[LioKai]

Great find Blue!! Please contact the Oahu Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) and let them know what,when, and where, with the tag number.

 

[Cacia]

here is one from scubadrew last year VblueV


oops, guess my video uploading skills are not there yet. :light:

(love monk seals)

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[VBlueV]

thanks for the pic catherine..
the one i saw seemed younger with a nize healthy belly =)

i emailed DAR with the details.. 'hope it's useful to them.

 

[jjgibo]

thats cool that you saw him out there, normally we see the monk seals near the exit of lanai lookout, in fact many times he can be found in the cave near the exit, in fact i think it is normally a girl one out there (from what i have been told by the folks who stay above water that track the seals), she can get a bit testy, we saw her by the exit once, and she was being a bit hostile, made it tough to exit but was still a fun day.

 

[VBlueV]

cool the DAR folks responded.. "Buster" is the name of the seal i saw.

Aloha,
My name is Erin and I work for the Hawaiian Monk Seal program on Oahu. I work on Main Hawaiian Island sightings and am very glad you took the time to report your sighting. The seal you saw is RV08, nicknamed Buster by volunteers and he's a year and a half old. He was born on Rabbit Island, an islet off of Oahu in 2005. His mother, RS00, has a really interesting history. She was born at Midway Atoll in 1992 and was seen there every year until 1998 when she was sighted at Laysan Island.She stayed at Laysan for two years until she moved to the main Hawaiian islands in 2000! Since then, she's been seen at Molokai, Kauai, Hawaii and Oahu.

Whenever you see a monk seal, give us a call on the sighting line (808-220-7802) and let us know. The Oahu sighting line is based in Honolulu and handles all MHI sightings. Calls go directly to a cell phone and calls are answered seven days a week.

For a toll-free number, call: NMFS Hotline: 1-888-256-9840 this number is answered 24 hrs a day, seven days a week by an answering service in Seattle. This is the number to call for an injured or dead seal or if you feel a seal is being disturbed or harmed and needs immediate attention. You can also use this number to report sightings (operators are from the mainland, so be patient with them when trying to give Hawaiian names).

Thanks again for your sighting and please give our number to all your diving buddies!

Aloha,
Erin

i guess i'm gonna have to start bringing my camera on every dive..
even the combat dives when surf's up =)

 

[Wildcard]

Thats what Im saying! ya just never know.