Let's talk about Hawaii Wildlife

buffettgirl

The whole tag thing, so 1990's internet.
Joined
Dec 26, 2008
So yesterday I was at the paradise cove lagoon and a young monk seal came into the lagoon. These are endangered and protected creatures. There are signs posted everywhere warning of the seals. By law, you're suppose to move out of their way and give them room. Volunteers were trying to make sure the seal had plenty of room to come on shore, only to be constantly thwarted by guests who continued to get too close and block the seal's way. Eventually the seal left the lagoon which is too bad. N14 was the seal , he comes from Moloka'i and is a young male seal. He likes to hang out at the lagoon with an older male seal, Benny. Without being allowed to come on HIS beach when HE wants he will eventually leave our lagoon and go somewhere else.

Also, there were quite a number of sea turtles in the lagoon as well. These also are highly protected creatures here and it is against the law to 'harass' them in any way - that includes crowding them, following them to get photos, chasing them, and touching them. Recently there have been a lot of bites from turtles. If a turtle bites you, you are too close. You're supposed to give them at least 10 feet, but if they are moving, it's just best to get out of their way. I witnessed a large crowd continually follow one turtle for quite a long time - even after volunteers had told them to give the turtle free access. One of these turtles "scuba" is a 3 flippered guy.

Guys, these are wild animals who make their home here in Hawaii. This isn't a pet and touch aquarium. They may look cute and docile, but they are wild animals and they will harm you. Further, all the behavior I witnessed yesterday was against the law, and if the volunteers had chosen to, they could have called the police. They had plenty of photos documenting the interactions. It's probably only due to their goodness that they didn't call the police.

So if you choose to go over to the paradise cove lagoon, take your quick photo and then GET OUT of the water when you see wild animals. Sit quietly on the shore, and you might be surprised at what the animals due next. Do not continue to crowd the turtles, do not continue to chase the seals down and back on the shore. Listen to the volunteers who are at every beach and comply with what they are asking. Everyone there missed the opportunity to see a beautiful monk seal come on shore to sun himself. They probably missed the opportunity to see his buddy come into the lagoon to hang out as well.

http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/PRD/prd_good_neighbors.html
 
Excellent points. Anxious to visit Paradise Cove next week, and I'll be upset if I see such actions.
 
Thank you for the timely and sorely needed PSA on behalf of our animals. It really hurts me when I see people treating wild animals like they exist to entertain humans. And you're so right about how some of the best experiences happen when you're sitting down and staying out of their way.
 
(going off-topic just a tad bit)

On our first vacation to Kaua'i, on our last beach day, we were at Poipu Beach (it's public) and were so surprised and overjoyed to see a huge Hawaiian monk seal slide on up and nap/sun itself for a few hours on the sand. Volunteers for a seal protection group showed up along with a few police officers to ensure nobody harassed the seal. It laid for 3-4 hours before it finally left of its own accord. It was really cool to see that of all the people coming and going, nobody tried to bother the seal! I was surprised with all the noise around the beach that the seal could nap so peacefully ;) Of course, the volunteer group and police had set up a simple barrier with wooden stakes in the sand to give the seal a nice berth, but still. Nobody tried to get around the barrier. Really made me happy to see the respect for wildlife :hippie:
 


Thanks for the info. I can't wait to see the turtles there, but I will keep my distance. I hope to not see any
rude behavior!!
Kerri
 
(going off-topic just a tad bit)

On our first vacation to Kaua'i, on our last beach day, we were at Poipu Beach (it's public) and were so surprised and overjoyed to see a huge Hawaiian monk seal slide on up and nap/sun itself for a few hours on the sand. Volunteers for a seal protection group showed up along with a few police officers to ensure nobody harassed the seal. It laid for 3-4 hours before it finally left of its own accord. It was really cool to see that of all the people coming and going, nobody tried to bother the seal! I was surprised with all the noise around the beach that the seal could nap so peacefully ;) Of course, the volunteer group and police had set up a simple barrier with wooden stakes in the sand to give the seal a nice berth, but still. Nobody tried to get around the barrier. Really made me happy to see the respect for wildlife :hippie:


They keep the cordon there. we stay nearby and I've even seen some hotel staff set it up on the beaches in front of the hotels in Poipu.
 
Most of the beaches here have signs tucked away (you just have to know where they are) and anyone can grab them and place them on the beach when you see a seal, and that's what the folks were trying to do the other day. Then we call in the appropriate people and the come in and handle it from there. But it's a community effort. The regulars can help protect the seal before anyone arrives. :)
 


We are coming in August. I am hoping to get a peak. I already had a chat with my son's girlfriend who is also coming and loves to pet animals. No harassing the wild life.
 
We're visiting in August and while we would love to see wildlife I don't want to come across as a pesky tourist who doesn't care for the wildlife. Will definitely be watching them from afar!
 
Another update on monk seals - This is a beach down in Waikiki and you can see how aggressive the seal gets with another seal. Seals often mistake humans for seals, so I wanted to show why it's so very important to stay away from the seals.:

http://khon2.com/2017/07/19/swimmer...ocean-following-monk-seal-attack-off-waikiki/


we witnessed a similar situation in Poipu, two seals wrestling their way down the beach. they're not small animals, fortunately people backed up pretty far once they started wrestling.
 
We're visiting in August and while we would love to see wildlife I don't want to come across as a pesky tourist who doesn't care for the wildlife. Will definitely be watching them from afar!

we were able to observe the turtles at paradise cove from 20-25 feet away and get decent pictures. My DS8 floated still once he saw them, did not approach and they continued to forage for several minutes before moving on. unfortunately they moved on because of others who approached too close. My mother let them know their error, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears, as they approached and scared of another honu just a few minutes later. :(

Monk seals we saw on poipu beach several time on Kauai, usually surrounded by their security cordon that the lifeguards put up, but one time they swam through while we were snorkeling. they're definitely big enough that I retreated once I saw them, actually out of the water, because I had my DD6 with me and she was scared.
 
we were able to observe the turtles at paradise cove from 20-25 feet away and get decent pictures. My DS8 floated still once he saw them, did not approach and they continued to forage for several minutes before moving on. unfortunately they moved on because of others who approached too close. My mother let them know their error, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears, as they approached and scared of another honu just a few minutes later. :(

Monk seals we saw on poipu beach several time on Kauai, usually surrounded by their security cordon that the lifeguards put up, but one time they swam through while we were snorkeling. they're definitely big enough that I retreated once I saw them, actually out of the water, because I had my DD6 with me and she was scared.
We saw them on Poipu too; it was awesome! But YEAH in that little Cove with you, I imagine they'd seem really big!! We were never lucky enough to see a turtle, though, in 14 days :( Guess I'll have to go back!
 
Paradise Cove is going to become a victim of it's own notoriety. Time and again I've seen tourists interacting with sea life inappropriately. Eventually, what we come to see will no longer be there because they don't feel it's safe. It makes me sad.
 
Paradise Cove is going to become a victim of it's own notoriety. Time and again I've seen tourists interacting with sea life inappropriately. Eventually, what we come to see will no longer be there because they don't feel it's safe. It makes me sad.
Exactly.
 

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