How does oneself do this?  It’s so amazingly simple, thus people don’t fight over it.  If we just listen, and don’t concentrate on all the crappy objects that the mind creates, then we can be in the present moment and live our true life.

Monk Seal

Ioio-holo-i-ka-uaua

(dog that runs in rough water)

by Aran Self

My first experience with a Hawaiian monk seal that I can remember, was on the south shore of Kauai. I think I was 9 and my brother was 10. My mom my brother and I went down to the beach when we got down to the beach we saw signs and a rope that went around all the signs. we went up to the rope and saw a Hawaiian monk seal siting on the beach. everyone was staring at it, my brother and I looked at it, it rose it’s small head and then it went “pphhttt” at us. My mom said it gave us a raspberry, my brother and I thought that was hilarious.

Another time I saw a Hawaiian monk seal, there was no ropes around it. This was on the north shore of Kauai, I don’t think the the Kauai monk seal watch program goes down the the north shore that much. we went over to the Hawaiian monk and we took pictures of it and pictures of us near it after we were done taking pictures we got up and a guy kicked sand in it’s face, and walked off laughing, the monk seal started spiting out sand and sneezing then it went “pphhttt” and laid back down. what a jerk that guy was, I thought to my self.

When I got to Kauai this year, my dad and I went past a Hawaiian monk seal laying on the beach. We stopped to a look at it. My dad stayed in the car while I went over to get a closer look at it. She was really big female monk seal, she was sleeping on the beach. I walked up to the rope that was around her. she had a lot of scratches and scares on her, they looked like they were from sharks.

One time I went to the south shore to look at a Hawaiian monk seal. we walked to the signs. we saw monk seal tracks that went down to the water at the end of the path there a Hawaiian monk seal about to go in the water. It looked like a young male monk seal. It rolled in to the water before we could get a good picture. A lady from the Kauai monk seal watch program came to pick up the rope and the bottle the rope was tied to. But when the lady tried to pull the bottle out of the water but it wouldn’t move then we saw why. The monk seal was holding on to the bottle. The

lady let go of the rope and the monk seal came up and went “art-art, pphhttt”.

• The estimated population of the Leatherback Sea Turtle females is about 26,000 to 43,000.  They are declining rapidly which affects the number of sea turtle babies. Leatherback Sea Turtle page, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/printable/leatherback-sea-turtle.html
• the Leatherback Turtle lays  80 to 100 eggs !  But only a  approximately one out of a thousand makes it to adulthood. The complete book of Animals
• The Leatherback Sea Turtle, unlike most reptiles, keeps it’s body temperature warm and for this reason they have been found as far north as British Columbia, Canada, and as far south as the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.  Leatherback Sea Turtle page, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/printable/leatherback-sea-turtle.html
  
• The Leatherback Sea Turtle is the largest turtle in existence. Wild Wild World, p. 98
• The Leatherback Turtle’s carapace is made up of thousands of timy bone fragments which makes the shell slightly flexible.  - The Complete Book of Animals, p. 136
• Letherback Turles are the only turtles to survive in waqter under 40 degrees farenheight.  The Letherback Turtle has a fatty, oily layer that keeps in heat so they are warmer than the sea around them.  They also know how to pump blood out of the flippers to warm the brain and the heart. - Sea Turtles, Ocean Nomads p.12
• The Leatherback Turtle can swim up to 20 miles each day. The complete Book of Animals, p. 136
• The front flippers are the same length of the leatherback turtle itself.  The Complete Book of Animals, p. 136
• The Leatherback Turle is declining because of beach development on which they lay their eggs. The Complete Book of Animals, p. 136

Peregrine falcons used to be endangered. Loss of habitat and a pesticide called DDT impacted them greatly to where they almost went extinct. DDT, a pesticide, was (and still is in some places) used to ward off mosquitoes and other invasive species. This pesticide was sprayed across crops and ended up in the soil and in rivers. Fish consumed this pesticide unintentionally and then birds like the peregrine falcon and the golden eagle caught and ate the fish. Then this pesticide entered into their system.

DDT causes Peregrine falcons to lay thinly-shelled eggs that were easily broken. When the female incubated (sat on) the eggs, they would brake, killing the developing embryo inside.

Peregrine falcons like moderate to warm habitats,and they need a habitat with abundant prey. They usually inhabit narrow canyons and rugged mountains and are frequently found near bodies of water preying on birds there.

Peregrine falcons can migrate from Alaska to Argentina, a distance of 15,000 miles. However, when they do so, since DDT is still used in some parts of South America, they could still be impacted.

Peregrine falcons have been off the endangered species list since 1996. Now, they are listed as a species of least concern by ICUN Red List. That does not mean you can go banging around, shooting them like crazy.

To learn more about endangered species, check out our link on Endangered Species!

By Liam Lustberg