A Great Underwater Encounter With A Rare Critter
We had an amazing encounter off the coast of Maui in Hawaii. While
snorkeling at Molokini (an ancient volcanic crater top between Maui and Molokai) we
encountered an unusual visitor. An endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal joined us!
There are
only an estimated 1,500 of these cute critters left today and this big fella really
enjoyed cavorting with snorkelers. We were swimming in water varying between 30 and 8 feet
when this crittter showed up and thank goodness I was armed and ready with our trusty
Minolta underwater camera!!!
The only tough part was distancing myself far enough
away from the seal to get good underwater pictures!!! Our dive-master explained
that this particular seal shows up two or three times a year at Molokini and stays for a
few days. The seal is a male and loves to meet people. When he approached my
daughter, he came up to her face to face as if they were standing in the water while
actually floating. He very gently placed his flippers around her waist and his face
was so close to her mask that she could feel his whiskers on her face! He blew some
bubbles toward her mask and then proceeded to visit with other divers!
Keep in mind as you
look at the pictures below, this is a completely wild critter that just happens to
like people! And since his species is on the endangered list, it's a Federal Offense for
people to touch him. But there are NO RULES prohibiting him from touching people! It
was a really neat encounter!!!!!!! |
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