As I sat in the soft sand yesterday, marveling at the mountains and the water in front of me, I shifted my gaze to the right and noticed a crowd gathering around a huge, dark object on the sand.
Now I'm used to seeing things wash up on the shores of Florida beaches, but nothing like this. It was an endangered Hawaiian monk seal. I got up for a closer look. Police tape was present.
How horrible, I thought, that no one had removed this poor guy yet. Perhaps "they" were waiting on more man power as he had to weigh hundreds of pounds.
Then I saw the sluggish movement of a flipper, his mouth shuddered a bit and my heart sank. He wasn't dead, but dying....on his back....no one helping to get him back in the water, just standing and looking.
I put my phone away, packed my bag and left the beach, it upset me so much that this amazing mammal was dying and I couldn't just bask in the sun and pretend he wasn't there.
Later that day, I told my friend Andrew, a resident of Wakiki, what had happened. I was still clearly distraught with eyes welling up and as he put his hands over his mouth, I knew it bothered him too. Then a grin crept from under his hands. He laughed, looked at me with compassion (or maybe pity) and said in his southern accent, "Darling, he was just sleeping."
Me: What? But he was on his back.
Andrew: And how do you sleep?
Me: What? Well there was police tape.
Andrew: To keep the tourists from messing up his nap. They crawl up on the beach all of the time. Glad you got to see one. Wanna get a cocktail?
Me: HELL YES....I'm so relieved.
But will never live it down.
I guess I will have to brush up on the habits of native wildlife when I travel from now on.
Aloha!
