Whale Entanglement

Today was a Linda Adventure.

My adventure was at the Kilauea Lighthouse where I try to stop by daily to watch the birds, but mostly the humpback whales offshore. This week has been amazing for spotting whales. It has been easy to spot and watch new groups of 4-6 swim by every 10-15 minutes. (One of the docents at the lighthouse and I think they're being rather sexy right now).

Today, I saw a large whale with what looked like orange plastic near its pectoral fin and tail. At first I thought it might be some sort of radio tag. But, two? Two men nearby told me they'd been watching and could clearly see the plastic was buoys. We had an entangled whale. It didn't seem to be too distressed, but the lighthouse called the NOAA Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary headquarters. We informed Ed Lyman, an entanglement expert, about the whale. While we waited, each of us kept our eye on the group of whales as it traveled to the east and south of us. The U.S. Fisheries Department came out and questioned us. We helped the official spot the group, and the U.S. Coastguard was sent out to tag the whale so the entanglement team can try and free it of the lines.

From the Fisheries person, we found out that another whale had washed up on shore on the west side of the island. There had been a sighting of a humpback whale that was entangled in rope with orange buoys a few days earlier and it was thought that the dead whale was one in the same. The entangled whale was still alive. I'll let you know what I find out about its outcome with the entanglement team. Visit http://hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov  to find out more

Usually, we inform you of our dogs' happenings. Today was a quiet day at home for the dogs. Sea-Sea gave us a scare last night. She became ill quickly - 104.5º fever, vomiting, lethargy, heavy panting, tremors. After an IV treatment, a heavy dose of antibiotics, and doggie aspirin, she's been resting all day with no fever. Keep your fingers crossed for our old girl.

Perfect Day at the Beach

January 20, 2012 - The dogs went to doggie day camp today. It was sunny and bright down on the south side of the island at Poipu Beach.  The water was calm and the tourists were paddling about. We decided to join them and snorkel.

There were a lot of fish (large ones) in very shallow water and with dozens of snorkelers kicking about. That seemed so unusual. Usually snorkelers scare fish away.  These fish didn't seem to mind all of the humans around. I giggled as people floated on their rafts oblivious to  the  many fish swimming beneath and around them. Highlight of the day? Two large green sea turtles munching on algae on the rocks.

Below are some pictures I "borrowed" from the Internet for those of you not familiar with some of the Hawaiian fishes and the green sea turtle. Turtles were four-five feet in length.

humu humu nuku nuku apua ‘a, reef trigger

raccoon butterflyfish

Christmas wrasse

Green Sea Turtle

Just Had to Share...

Sam and Sea-Sea at Anini Beach, January 10, 2012

Sam continues to amaze us...

When I went to Oregon to adopt Sam, the breeder, Tonya, said, "So, Steve, we've been explaining this to Sam and he understands. He knows he belongs to you now." Sam was 4 years old and had been in several home environments. And he kind of did act like he understood. Okay... So, as a joke and for fun we have started talking to Sam and explaining things and guess what? He does seem to understand.

Fast forward to the other day and Sam and Sea-Sea's first big adventure to a doggie daycare camp called Whiskers Resort. It looked really well run and we hoped that our dogs would fit in well. Linda told Sam, "You are going to a fun camp with other dogs and you can play but you have to make sure Sea-Sea is okay."

When we picked them up the lady could not wait to tell us that they had both had a great, fun day and...Sam, stayed with Sea-Sea for the first hour and a half. Then he went and played but came back off and on all day to check on his elderly aunt.

We're just going to keep talking to him! -Steve

Happy New Year!

"Hau'oli (happy) Makahiki (year) Hou (new)"

(Pronounced: how-OH-lee mah-kah-hee-kee ho)

That one just won't stick in my brain. I'll keep practicing. Sam just says, "Woof."  Sea-Sea sends her wags.

Our Christmas was merry and bright. We went to the west side of the island for the day. We enjoyed the 100 foot white sand dunes, clear skies, and beautiful waves on Polihale Beach. It's a wide and very long beach literally at the end of the road. It was a fun, jumping-around-in-the-waves day. We also went to Koke'e State Park. (More on the park at a later date. I want to keep this blog short.) It was a beach day for me, photography day for Steve, drive around in the truck day for the dogs. Pictures below are from my I-Phone.

New Year's Eve was spent at Poipu Beach. They had a music festival and fireworks show. A reggae band was the big hit of the night. Irie, Aloha -  it's all the same, right?

The dogs stayed home. We had our first experience of fireworks on the island. On the Honolulu news, the reporters spoke about staying inside on New Year's Eve if you have asthma or respiratory conditions. I was thinking, "Yeah, right!" OMG! The island air was totally filled with smoke from what seemed to be just about everyone on the island shooting off fireworks.  (They're legal here).  I guess they're illegal on Oahu, but the reporters said that wouldn't stop anyone there. Steve coughed all the way home from Poipu Beach. The dogs were fine when we got home, sporting dogs that they are...plus, Sea-Sea can't hear much anymore.

We wish you a healthy,  joyous and prosperous 2012. We value your friendships!