Okay, so we have all been a little slack with the blog lately. Sorry to all the dedicated readers (mom). I will honestly say that it is because we have been working hard, recovering from some injuries, battling some sea sickness, and watching some movies. So, to catch up with the last few days we are going to have to condense things a little bit.The second day on Kure was spent moving the rest of Jessie's field gear to the ship and the seal team kept searching the island for seals to tag. At the end of the first day, we had Jessie get smacked across the jaw with rear flippers and Chad was bit by an adult seal. Basically we continued the same pattern on day 2. We started surveying at about 8 am with Jason, Chad, Jessie, Kathleen, Marie and myself. The highlight was Kathleen got to tag her first adult seal and did great. We got 2 seals done before lunch at which time our team was dropped to just Jason, Chad, Jessie, and myself.
The third animal we caught was a skilled opponent. No matter how hard we tried he kept managing to avoid the net so finally I stood right over him for a better shot at capturing him. The seal saw an opportunity and took it. With what felt like all the strength his 400 lbs body could muster, he launched his lower body straight up between my open legs...I won't explain it in detail but I will say that I was largely incapacitated for the rest of the capture with nothing but small whimpers coming from my mouth. Sometimes I wonder if tagging is worth it.
The fourth animal went smoothly, but the fifth ended up briefly dislocating Chad's pinky.
We then met up with Tenaya and Kehau and caught the last two seals of the day. We received only one very minor temporary injury when an adult male threw a flipper full of sand into Jason's eye. He was trying to net the seal at the time and continued to do so for about 15 seconds more when he finally turned to no one, held out the net to empty air and said "I have sand in my eyes and can't see a thing." Blindness aside, it went smoothly and Tenaya speedily tagged her first two adult seals.
So exhausted from having caught 7 seals (about 2500 lbs of seal) in a day we called it quits and headed back to the ship. By then almost everything was loaded and we were set for a half a day of seal catching the next morning before departure.
The next morning: Thank goodness...bad weather! Seal operations were called off due to low visibility and choppy conditions. We were all terribly disappointed. So goodbyes were said on Kure and 4 State scientists/volunteers were brought aboard for transport back to Honolulu. The Sette turned and started back down the chain...banging into the swell...people got sick. Overall, Kure was a success. We got everyone on board safely and managed to retag 9 seals without serious injury to ourselves or the animals. Hopefully, through our efforts, the field camp will have an easier time identifying seals next year. On to Midway.
Scientist of the Day: Tenaya N.
If you need someone to take care of your undernourished monk seal, the our SOD is the person to call. Tenaya has been involved in monk seal recovery efforts for several years. She has field camped at Laysan, headed up captive care efforts at Midway and Honolulu, and is now going to be studying the relocation of seals to and the ecology of the population at Nihoa. Tenaya is currently doing her Masters at Moss Landing Marine Lab.When asked what famous person Tenaya would like to meet, she responded "I don't want to meet someone famous." She is so real.
Tenaya's favorite dessert is her mom's chocolate cake...appropriately called Mum's Chocolate Cake.
Tenaya's favorite book is Banana Bottom by Claude McKay or anything by Jane Austen.
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