Author Archives: Graham

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About Graham

I take photos when I'm out and about, recording life on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Monk seal pup update

A few weeks back, I posted (here) about a new monk seal pup that had recently been born on the Big Island. I’m happy to report that the mother and pup both continue to do well.

The pup is now about six weeks old and is much closer in size to his mother than he was in the previous post. It’s likely that his mother, RA20, will soon leave him to fend for himself. She has lost a lot of weight and is also looking quite green on her head and flippers, so she will head out to feed and then to molt.

The pup’s sister, Manu’iwa, has been a regular visitor to the area, but the mother is very protective and drives her away. Once the mother leaves, it’s likely that the two siblings will spend some time together in the area. Eventually, the new pup will head out on his own and make his own way.

Manu’iwa has had a very good first year, which is often a very testing time for a new monk seal. Hopefully, the new pup will be equally successful and be another step toward boosting the endangered monk seal population to more sustainable levels.

I’m posting this in response to this week’s Friendly Friday challenge on the theme of ‘Posing.’ (More responses here.) The top photo in particular could easily have the caption, ‘That’s my boy.’

Kekaha Kai beaches

Some of the beaches in Kekaha Kai park. The most popular is Makalawena, which requires a bit of a hike but offers several stretches of sparsely populated golden sand. The swimming is decent at many of these beaches unless there’s onshore swell. The biggest drawback to them is that the road in is very rough and directly overhead is the flight path approaching the airport.

Flying frigatebirds

This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Looking up.’ See more responses here.

Birds were my first thought for this theme since I spend a fair amount of time gazing skyward, either looking for birds or following their flight. While I had several options of which birds to feature, great frigatebirds seemed an obvious choice for three reasons.

First, they fly with no apparent effort, using the wind currents to glide along, even into strong winds. Second, they’re big, imposing birds, which catch the eye as they soar overhead. And third, they are forever sneaking up on me, easing up from behind so that I don’t see them until they’re alongside, and by the time my camera is out, they’re disappearing into the distance.

Great frigatebirds are pretty easy to identify thanks to their size, their distinctive wing shape and their forked tails. The wickedly hooked beak is another distinctive feature.