With Makana, the monk seal who treats Hookipa as her vacation retreat, back on the north shore beach again, marine mammal officials are reminding the public that monk seals are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Endemic to the islands, the Hawaiian monk seal, Monachus schauinslandi, is known in Hawaii as ’ilio holo i ka uaua – the dog that goes in rough water.
It is considered critically endangered, with an estimated 1,200 animals found across the Hawaiian archipelago, according to Wende Goo of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
When a monk seal beaches, it is usually seeking to rest. People should not approach it and should keep any pets away from it.
Dogs and seals both carry diseases that can be transmitted to each other and both will bite, Goo said.
“It is important to keep your dog on a leash and a safe distance away,” she said. “If a seal approaches you in the water, move away to avoid an interaction. Remember that these are wild animals and may bite.”
The largest populations of the seals are found in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which have been granted additional federal protection as the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. But the seals have slow reproductive rates and are subject to losses from predation by sharks and from human activity, including entanglement in nets or marine debris.
Still, efforts to track the seal population around the main islands are continuing through cooperative projects involving National Marine Fisheries, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, the state Aquatics Resources Division and volunteer research groups such as the Hawaii Wildlife Fund.
One such project is the semiannual Hawaiian Monk Seal Count, last held on Oct. 20, including volunteers on the beaches and an aerial survey. On Maui, coordinator Nicole Davis said three seals were sighted by two teams of volunteers at Hookipa and at Makena State Park. All remained in the water, and Davis said the assumption is that the seals were feeding in the reefs near the shoreline.
According to a report by David Schofield with the Marine Mammal Response Network, there were 23 sightings on Oct. 20 on the Big Island, Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai, with the largest number, seven, reported on Molokai.
That was lower than the numbers reported during a seal count held in April, but Schofield noted that the April count included 10 mother-pup pairs sighted around Kalaupapa on the north shore of Molokai.
The pairs might have included Makana, who had given birth earlier this year near the Kalawao Peninsula and was sighted on the beach at the Kalaupapa settlement.
Hannah Bernard with the Hawaii Wildlife Fund said it was at least Makana’s 10th pup. Pups generally are born between February and July, according to the fisheries service. They are weaned when they are 150 to 200 pounds, usually within six weeks of birth. Once the pups are weaned, they are on their own while the mothers, who may lose as much as 300 pounds while nursing, begin feeding on their own to recover.
The parent of go! airline will put up $90 million of its own cash for a bond so it can appeal a ruling that it misused confidential information.
Jonathan Ornstein, Mesa Air Group’s chief executive officer, said the bond won’t affect Mesa’s operations nor will it impact go!’s business since Mesa has $200 million to $220 million in cash.
"It’s clearly a big issue. We will get it back," Ornstein said.
Mesa is appealing U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris’ decision last month to award $80 million to Hawaiian Airlines for using confidential information to launch go! last year.
The Phoenix-based company also is asking for a new trial on the grounds that Faris abused his discretion by not allowing Mesa to introduce evidence that would have helped its case.
As part of the appeal process, Faris ruled yesterday that Mesa must post a $90 million bond.
The amount covers the judgment, $4.7 million in legal fees, $3.4 million for a year’s worth of interest and $1.9 million for additional costs.
In its legal papers, Hawaiian asked for a bond of $98 million, which included $10 million in interest to cover a three-year period that an appeal could take.
Hawaiian argued that it needed the extra protection due to Mesa’s dwindling cash position. Since launching go! in June 2006, Mesa’s cash holdings have fallen from about $345 million to about $200 million.
Hawaiian attorney Sid Levinson also cited Mesa’s sagging stock price, which fell to its lowest in more than 4 1/2 years yesterday. Mesa shares dropped 9 cents to close at $3.90 on the Nasdaq market.
Evan Jones, an attorney for Mesa, called Hawaiian’s request excessive.
"Even the numbers the court has (calculated) provide more cushion than Hawaiian is entitled to," Jones said’
The Hawaii SuperFerry will resume service between Oahu and Maui on Dec. 1 for an inaugural $29 one-way fare, the company said Friday.
The $29 passenger fare will be good for voyages from Dec. 1 through Dec. 20. The fare will rise to $39 on Dec. 21 through March 12, 2008. Passenger vehicle fares will be $55 one way.
On Wednesday, Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza lifted the injunction that has kept the high-speed interisland ferry Alakai from sailing to Maui since the end of August.
"We appreciate the support we’ve received from everyone who shares the vision of uniting our islands and families by sea," said President and CEO, John Garibaldi. "Hawaii Superferry and its more than 300 employees look forward to a new beginning as we start our voyages between Oahu and Maui, a new choice for interisland travel. "
The company has not announced a schedule for Kauai.
"We have already begun community outreach efforts on Kauai," Garibaldi said. "We will make our decision about when we commence our Kauai service once that process is completed."
The Hawaii Legislature passed a law during a special session last month that enables the ferry to sail while an environmental study is conducted. After signing the bill into law, Gov. Linda Lingle asked the judge to lift the injunction.
If you your coming to the Hawaiian islands with little ones under the age of 5 years old, what do you to get out and have some adult time? Podcast listener Jackie has this dilemma and wanted to know if the hotels have programs available. Yaling and Bruce offer advise and discuss Keiki (kids) Programs that are available. They also discuss some vacation new including airfare prices from major cities to Hawaii and holiday travel being longer this year than in previous years.
Want to know what packages are running for travel to Hawaii? Yaling and Bruce go over packages that have been booked by new customers, review and congratulate them and the agents that booked them.
Listen to this podcast Hidden Resort Fees no one tells you about at Hawaii Hotels Today Bruce and Yaling talk about resort fees which are NOT included in the price of your hotel room. These fees are charged at the end of your stay and can be unpleasant surprise on check out day if you are not aware of them. Sometimes they cover things that you would never use and other times things are incuded you would expect to get anyway like a rooms safe or coffee in your room.
Great Hawaii packages are featured on todays show which will give you a great idea about what trips are costing to the islands. Lots of folks are booking multi-island trips which is a great idea if you have enough time on your vacation. Bruce and Yaling review these packages and thank new customers and the agents that booked them.
In this podcast Bruce reads a statement form ResortQuest Hawaii about the comments he made on the last show. RQ understandably took issue with Bruce’s comment about "Expedia in effect owning" ResortQuest. He also goes over Hawaii vacation news and discusses/reviews packages booked by new customers. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ONCE AGAIN LOST THE AUDIO PODCAST BECAUSE WE WERE DOING USTREAM LIVE SO PODCAST 192 WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE AS A VODCAST. SO SORRY!!
RESORTQUEST HAWAII SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT ABOUT BRUCE’S TRIPADVISOR COMMENTS
Aloha Bruce:
Thank you for your time today. We appreciate your willingness to present ResortQuest Hawaii’s position during your upcoming podcast. Here is the information we would like to communicate:
Statement made on podcast: “So be careful with the reviews you’re reading that are going to be the ResortQuest hotels because you know right away, these are owned by Expedia, they’re owned by TripAdvisor, so… it loses credibility. I don’t know about other hotels, you know, Expedia doesn’t own.”
Fact: TripAdvisor and the sites comprising the TripAdvisor Media Network are operating companies of Expedia, Inc.
Fact: Expedia was spun off from IAC in August 2005 and is a separate corporate entity from IAC.
Fact: Interval Acquisition Corp., an affiliate of Interval International, purchased ResortQuest Hawaii in May 2007.
The statement made on the podcast of 10/26/07 that ResortQuest Hawaii properties are owned by Expedia and TripAdvisor is completely inaccurate and misleading. ResortQuest Hawaii is owned by Interval Acquisition Corp., an affiliate of Interval International which is owned by IAC. As Expedia and IAC are separate companies, to insinuate that the favorable reviews that ResortQuest Hawaii properties have recently received on TripAdvisor are the result of a business relationship is damaging.
TripAdvisor enables the public to rate properties as they see fit, and the site would not enjoy such widespread confidence if there was even a whiff of tampering with the reviews. Just because many recent reviews of ResortQuest Hawaii properties are positive is not evidence of a “conspiracy.” Specifically in the case of Papakea Resort (which you incorrectly reference as a 2-star property), Expedia recently downgraded its star rating from 3.5 to 3.0. In September 2006, TripAdvisor’s overall traveler rating of Papakea was 4.1 and the property’s Popularity Index was #30 out of 57 hotels in Lahaina (documentation available). In October 2007, the overall traveler rating is 3.5, and the Popularity Index is #27 out of 33 hotels in Lahaina. Neither the downgrade nor these ratings trends indicates any sort of favoritism.
You are entitled to your opinion that your company offers travelers better information than TripAdvisor does. What we take exception to is the false statement that ResortQuest Hawaii is owned by Expedia and TripAdvisor when in point of fact we are not, and the assertion that our good reviews are a result of this relationship, which in fact does not exist.
Thank you again for your willingness to set the record straight. Please advise when the new podcast is posted and the site content has been updated. Mahalo!
Sharon McAuliffe Senior Director of E-Commerce ResortQuest Hawaii
With Makana, the monk seal who treats Hookipa as her vacation retreat, back on the north shore beach again, marine mammal officials are reminding the public that monk seals are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
SuperFerry back on track
Great Hawaii packages