Today on Jonathan Bird's Blue World, a rare and endangered seal in Hawaii.
Hi, I'm Jonathan Bird and welcome to my world!
Seals and Sea Lions are among the ocean's most endearing creatures.
Their antics and appearance often remind me of undersea puppy dogs, and sometimes these
playful animals interact with divers.
Most seals and sea lions live in the cool water of temperate seas, or the frigid water
of the polar regions.
The so-called Monk seals are the only seals that live in the tropics.
And I have come all the way to a remote part of Hawaii to meet this incredibly rare animal:
the Hawaiian Monk Seal.
The Hawaiian Monk Seal is critically endangered.
There are less than 1,200 animals left.
The rugged coast of the Hawaiian Islands might seem like a perfect place for seals, but these
famously shy animals are rarely seen in the main Hawaiian Islands.
On the island of Kaua’i, I’m up before sunrise for an adventure that will take me
out to sea all day.
I'm joining Fathom Five Divers to make a long trip over to a remote island where just a
few Monk seals are known to live.
We leave the dock for a two hour crossing to Ni’ihau—the Forbidden Island.
It's a beautiful morning in Hawaii, but this trip is rarely flat calm.
Two hours later, we approach Ni’ihau and a smaller island next to it called Lehua Rock.
The remains of an ancient volcano, Lehua Rock is an uninhabited island.
It’s a protected bird sanctuary, and home to a small group of Hawaiian Monk seals that
are known to be curious about divers.
As we approach and anchor the boat, I am on the lookout for any seals.
We have come to a spot where they are frequently seen, but there are no guarantees in nature.
But I don’t have to wait long.
A curious Monk seal comes right over to give us a look.
But the real question is, will he allow me to film him underwater?
I gear up for what could be the greatest dive of my life, or the most boring, depending
on what happens.
I drop into the water, grab my camera, and sink towards the bottom, where I look around
for a Monk seal.
The volcanic rock has been deposited in layers, producing a beautiful vertical drop-off made
even more spectacular by the excellent visibility.
I can hear a strange sound in the distance, but I can't tell where it's coming from.
Soon I find the source of the sound: a male monk seal floating in mid-water vocalizing.
The most important part of filming any marine mammal is never to swim to it, but let it
come to you.
There's no way I can out-swim a seal, nor am I likely to sneak up on it.
So my best chance at getting close to this animal is to wait and see if it gets curious
about me.
So far however, he seems much more interested in vocalizing.
Nobody is quite sure what the vocalizing is about, but it seems to be unrelated to my
presence.
It has been suggested that this is a form of mating call from the male to any nearby
females.
One of the problems for the recovery of this species is the fact that there are far more
males than females.
Finding a female in the vastness of the ocean, is not easy.
I try to act like I'm doing something else, in the hope that the seal will grow curious,
but finally I have to leave the water because I'm getting low on air.
Well, that was really interesting!
We had one seal that was coming around us—not too close—but taking a look at the camera
and then going off into the blue and vocalizing…making that sort of growling sound….Grrrrr.
And that vocalization hopefully will lead to this: finding a mate.
In their leisure time, Monk seals like to play in the surf together.
It looks like fighting, but usually nobody gets hurt.
This couple is on their way to mating.
The remote coasts of Kaua’i, Ni’ihau and Molokai conceal isolated beaches devoid of
human encroachment.
These are the places that Monk seals seek out to give birth to their pups.
Human encroachment is one of the main threats facing the recovery of the Hawaiian Monk seal
population.
And Tiger sharks are a big threat to the pups just learning to swim.
A mother Monk seal usually gives birth to only one pup, which is totally dependent on
her care for about a month an a half.
During that time, she gives her pup milk and swimming lessons
Unfortunately, only 20% of newborn pups make it to their second birthday.
This high mortality is the reason that the Hawaiian Monk seal is having such a hard time
making a comeback from hundreds of years of hunting.
Of course, now the Hawaiian Monk seal is on the endangered species list and protected
from hunting throughout its entire range.
The Caribbean Monk seal was not so lucky.
It was hunted into extinction.
The last living animal was seen in 1952.
Hopefully the efforts to protect and rehabilitate the Hawaiian Monk seal population are not
too late.
Back at the boat, while everyone else has lunch, I decide to do a little snorkeling
to check out the reef in the shallows.
While floating there looking at the fish, guess who has snuck up on me?
A Monk seal's natural curiosity has brought him over for a look at the awkward floating
human.
He seems like he is just taking a rest at the surface.
Maybe all that vocalizing gets tiring.
He looks right into my camera lens.
Clearly he is curious about me or my camera.
I float in the water for half an hour, as the seal repeatedly pops his nose above the
surface for a breath of air.
Finally, with one last breath, he dives about 50 feet down…and starts to vocalize again.
Soon, it's time for another scuba dive, so I head to the boat and gear up.
Cameraman Todd and I hit the water, and swim down to the reef.
Almost immediately, the seal comes over to greet us, swimming right past Todd.
He swims right down to me and floats gently above the bottom.
He can see me clearly, because the eyes of a seal are designed to work underwater.
Seals have blurry vision on land, but crystal clear down here.
Soon the seal starts rubbing his back on the rocks.
Even a seal likes a back scratch!
He doesn’t mind my presence at all.
Or maybe he just thinks the lens on my camera produces a nice reflection of him self.
His big whiskers do more than make him look cute.
They help him hunt fish.
They are sensitive to vibrations in the water, and detect movement at close range in the
dark.
As I continue to observe, the seal goes back to vocalizing right in front of me!
He brings the air up from his lungs into his throat, then exhales the bubbles afterwards.
But I have no idea how he made that sound!
Seals are mammals and breathe air, so after a few minutes, he needs to head to the surface
for a breath.
While swimming back to the boat, I notice a Sandbar shark swimming through the area.
I wonder if it will frighten the seal away.
However, much to my surprise, the seal in fact swims over to check out the shark, then
goes back to vocalizing.
It is the shark that swims away!
Wow, that is a first!
A shark and a seal on the same dive in the same shot!
How cool is that??
I’ll never forget my adventure with my new friend, the Hawaiian Monk seal.
I certainly hope that all that vocalizing pays off and he finds himself a girlfriend.
The future of the Hawaiian Monk seal depends on it.