THE LIFE & TIMES OF Q39

David Jordan

‘Q39’ sleeping on her favourite beach on Maui

12 August 1998

This morning, I happened to videotape a man attacking a monk seal near my home on Maui. First, he tossed coconuts at the animal from about 5-10 feet away, then a rock from a bit further, while a group of six others taunted the seal.

Hawaii DOCARE (Department of Conservation and Resources Enforcement) subsequently arrested the man, and NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) is investigating.

This seal, originally classified as ‘RQ39’ by NMFS researchers (according to the faded red tags she wears), was born at Kaupo on Maui 14 months ago and had been visiting a beach near my house for the better part of 10 days. Based on my observations of her and feedback from NMFS, her first moult appears imminent, so this kind of treatment is the last thing she needed.

I would like to find ways to use this video for educational purposes, for community outreach, and to pressure politicians to improve endangered species protection in the islands – anything that might bring something good out of such a senseless act.

18 August 1998

As a witness to the incident, I have had to put together a statement of events for DOCARE and NMFS. It runs to 5 legal pages, plus 2 maps. The video has also been submitted as evidence.

Unfortunately, the perpetrator of the attack, a 59-year old fisherman and taro farmer, turns out to be one of my neighbours. Two male youths (among the group of six) with him – probably visitors from elsewhere on Maui or from another island – quickly followed his lead in harassing the animal, tossing sticks in front of her, lunging at her and so on...

The arrest of my neighbour has created a sticky situation around here – hopefully just for a while. I live on the Keanae peninsula on the Hana coast of Maui, which is filled with taro fields and ‘locals’ – mostly Native Hawaiians. I have lived here for 7 years – 11 years altogether on Maui. However, it is entirely possible that matters will deteriorate to the point where I will have to move from here altogether. I can only hope that there is enough community support for my actions to offset the fact that none of my blood is Native Hawaiian.

This is all kind of a surreal situation for me… I started out by renting a camera for a week to document Q39’s onshore behaviour, and ended up with a ‘Rodney King’-type monk seal video. But my neighbour should be cursing himself for his own bad timing. I had already shot about 7-8 hours of video during the week, and this guy showed up on my last day of rental, on my last battery and my last hour of tape.

According to the NMFS researchers I have been in touch with, monk seals are generally rare throughout the eastern Hawaiian islands. Their stronghold – or at least the place where they cling on to survival – is out in the remote Leeward islands. Q39 was born on Maui, which probably makes her unique, but my NMFS contacts report that at least 4 other seals have visited the island over the last 10 years.

The most recent visitor was a juvenile seal – possibly born on Kahoolawe – which was being very ‘diver friendly’ and making something of a pest of himself at Molokini last year.

7 September 1998

On Labor Day, there was another harassment session involving locals. Q39 had spent the day swimming around the cove, finally hauling at around 5:30 on her favourite beach, just as a group of picnickers were packing up to leave. Their kids were playing in the shallows when the seal snuck up behind them in one of several aborted haulouts – you should have seen those little buggers run!

Half an hour after the picnickers left and 45 minutes after she had finally hauled out, the seal was having water thrown on her, whipped with a nylon rope, and her space otherwise invaded by another group of drunken locals. Once again, I caught the incident on film – all except for the 12-year old kid with the rope. I couldn’t bear to turn the camera back on for that. The perpetrators were clearly unimpressed with any information I was able to provide about the seal, until my neighbour informed them of the criminal penalties involved.

It now also turns out that Q39 has a number 7 or 8 Ulua (fish) hook lodged in her lower lip, so NMFS/DOCARE are going to try to remove it, if and when she returns.

Reviewing my latest video, DOCARE officers were of the opinion that, while the actions of the locals on the beach constituted abuse and harassment, the evidence – mainly consisting of dumping water over her and crowding around her, was too weak to achieve a court conviction. They added, however, that the incident demonstrated a clear need to educate the people on Maui. They are currently trying to figure out how best to accomplish that.

14 September, 1998

I spent much of the day with two highly professional folks from NMFS, and Richard, the DOCARE officer, trying to find Q39 out Hana way. We finally located her around 3 p.m. and proceeded to capture, sedate (using Valium), and inspect the animal, paying particular attention to her mouth.

There was no sign of the fish hook that I’d observed on Labor Day, just a small area of redness on the lip. Over the weekend, Richard, the Hana DOCARE officer, found her on the shore at Koki beach and photographed her. Although there was no hook visible, he did see a swivel assembly protruding from her mouth, and he took a picture of it. Afterwards, Q39 was sighted in Hana Bay, on the beach, and a lady that saw her early Monday morning reported that she still had a hook in her mouth. She took to the water again around 10 a.m. yesterday, but returned to the beach around 2:30, so we could find her... and suddenly, no hook, no swivel, no nothing! Go figure.

After a discussion with the DOCARE officer and myself about what we had seen in her mouth, the NMFS folks agreed that we’d best check her out anyway as there was the possibility that the hook was now inside her lip, with the swivel trailing back down her throat. Thankfully that was not the case.

It was most interesting to see the angry side of Q39 after spending so much time observing her normal behaviour. It would have been a good demo of why not to let kids approach these animals... She tried hard for an ankle, and almost had it (only got the pants), and it seemed to take 60-90 seconds to get her netted as she was most feisty. She calmed quickly in the net, and the NMFS vet (Melissa Shaw) was masterful with the needle, quickly finding the appropriate spot to inject the Valium. She gave the drug about 90 seconds to kick in and then inspected the mouth – an inspection the seal did not seem to mind. Within 10 minutes of the start of her ordeal, Q39 was freed from the net – an act almost as challenging as getting her into it in the first place!

As she headed for the water, she cast a few spiteful glances back over her shoulder which appeared to be directed towards Chad Yoshinaga, the NMFS supervisor, and then proceeded out into the bay looking none the worse for the ordeal. Both NMFS personnel said that she looked very good for her age, probably around 200 pounds – which is 75-100 pounds more than many seals her age seen in French Frigate Shoals, apparently. It was speculated that she might be picking up a lot of things from the sea bed while foraging, and had been unlucky enough to get the hook lodged in her mouth.

16 September 1998

Just got back from a trip to Kaupo to revisit Q39’s birthplace, and meet a few folks that watched over her when she was a pup. At least one of the NMFS little yellow signs is still up below the church, although the phone number to report violators has faded to oblivion. I did find out that Q39 was once named ‘Mokulau’ by the folks in Kaupo, after the bay lying below the church and the many islets in the sea nearby. Apparently the mailman used to call her by name and she would come out from hiding...

On the way back I stopped near Koki beach (where Q39 had been seen with the swivel sticking out of her mouth) and although she wasn’t at that beach, I did spot her with binoculars at the next beach down the coast – one that is really only accessible from the water. So it seems she made it through the capture ordeal just fine...

Maui is indeed blessed that the only known animal to be born here is still alive 15 months later. Elsewhere, according to what I learnt from the NMFS (John Henderson), monk seals may not be faring quite so well. In 1997, 97 pups were born at French Frigate Shoals, of which only 58 were known to have survived to weaning (an additional 2 were still nursing when the NMFS Marine Mammal Research Program field team departed, so hopefully the total was 60). Of these, 37 died or disappeared prior to weaning. Of the 58 which successfully weaned, 52 were tagged. This year (1998), of the 52 tagged in 1997, only 6 were resighted at French Frigate Shoals as yearlings. According to John, this grim picture seems to be unique to the French Frigate Shoals population, as survival rates (both pre-weaning and from weaning to year one) are higher at all other major breeding sites, including Pearl and Hermes Reef.

But with all the threats levelled against this endangered species, we’re clearly fortunate that Q39 has continued to thrive on Maui. If only everyone else on the island would think the same way…

Postscript: All the recent publicity over Q39 led to reports of another pup being born in a remote area of Maui this July – so Q39 no longer has the lonely distinction of being the one and only Maui-born monk seal. The male pup, probably with the same mother as Q39 according to the NMFS, was tagged Y32 on September 30th.