Hard to believe this photo is six years old already, with one of our legendary Hawaiian monk seal mothers, Honey Girl.
Here she is with her last pup in 2019, Makoa. Unfortunately, we lost him as a weaner and we lost Honey Girl the next year during the pandemic.
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It’s been a little muggy and rainy the last week here on Oahu, so sharing a rainbow for Aloha Friday in hopes of better weather over the next week!
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Another benefit of being home, I had the opportunity to make the rounds with one of our local @HIMarineAnimal volunteers and observe 21 of our Laysan albatross chicks, including this one sitting out in an open field.
Their plumage is starting to shift to the adult feathers.
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Pulling one out from the archives for Sunset Sunday… a beautiful sunset from Mokule’ia on Oahu’s
North Shore!
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Mahalo!
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On a hike out at the end of the day, long after the monk seal count had finished, I found RL42 where I had seen her at 8 am that morning, snoozing away in a tide pool.
In more recent years, I've been able to watch RL42 with her own pups... hopefully, I'll get that chance this summer too!
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A double-crested cormorant turns to face the camera, with water gliding over its back in Central Park, New York.
Another beautiful day in NYC and a good excuse to take the camera out to Central Park. This double-crested cormorant was fishing just off the view point where I stopped, which gave me a good chance for a quick portrait.
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This Honu paused on the way back into the ocean to take a last look in my direction.
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An abnormally large Hawaiian monk seal on her side… rumors suggest she weighs as much as 1,000 pounds, but scientists say her blubber isn’t that heavy. She is a big girl!
I heard rumors of a Hawaiian monk seal on the Big Island that weighed 1000 pounds. Most monk seals are between 450-600 pounds. 1000 pounds?
I had to see this for myself, & as luck would have it, while I was exploring a beach on the Kona side in 2021, Waimanu hauled out for an afternoon snooze.
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Yep, once we got back to NYC and how freezing it is, all I want to do is sleep.
Any time I visit the Big Island, I always make a stop in at Punalu'u Black Sand Beach to check out the Honu there... on the way to the eruption, we pulled into Punalu'u and that allowed me to capture these three Honu basking on the black sand.
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Another great spot to watch the power a winter swell brings to the North Shore is Shark’s Cove… the waves hit the back of the reef with explosive results!
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Wishing you a #MeleKalikimaka with #ShakaSanta. #Aloha!
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A Honu coming ashore on a remote beach on Oahu's North Shore.
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Mahalo… Holokai is one of my favorites!
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Mahalo!
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Before and after his very first molt with Holokai (#MonkSealRG40)... you've seen the "before" as my annual Halloween green goblin photo, but I love the side by side of these two images, taken just a few weeks apart, where the "after" is his fresh coat.
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Yep, we had an amazing day… even if the sand was a bit hot on my bare feet. Mahalo! 🤙🏼
A remote and rocky beach in the Kipahulu area of Hana, Maui.
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A singing Honu at Ho’okipa Beach on Maui on Turtle Tuesday.
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A virtual certificate with text "Celebrating 10M users on Bluesky, #26,178, Jason O’Rourke @jasonophoto.com, joined on Apr 19, 2023"
Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #26,178.
Wow… very cool to see the growth here!
A Callisaurus… also known as a Western Zebra-tailed Lizard, perches on a clump of sand from a footprint made by someone walking across the white sand dune.
A dinosaur spotted in White Sands National Park, the Callisaurus… also known as a Western Zebra-tailed Lizard.
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A super rare photo from the archives... does this Honu look like she's enjoying a bath, or trying to get me to help her get out of this little hole on the reef?
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Before my wife and I got married here in 2014 (ten years ago today), we made multiple planning trips and considered where to hold the ceremony. Shipwreck Beach was just as beautiful when we visited as it was on the day of our wedding.
Luana and her pup got separated and she was began vocalizing to get him to come back up the beach to where she was. While she looks a little wild eyed, she actually could see right where he was and like any mother does, was telling him to come back to her.
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One of Oahu’s most famous Hawaiian monk seals, Honey Girl, is stretched out sleeping on a deserted North Shore beach, with waves crashing behind her.
Happy #EarthDay!
Here's a shot of one of Oahu's most famous Hawaiian monk seals, Honey Girl, snoozing to the sound of the crashing waves, without a footprint in the sand around her.
Hoping we can continue to coexist with these amazing animals, and save the species from extinction.
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Totality as seen at the base of Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington, New York.
I feel a little sluggish today after an 19-hour day yesterday, including a brutal 10- or 11-hour drive back to NYC with half the city on the roads with us, but…
… it was worth it.
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A baby monk seal snuggles with its mother on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Hearing about baby monk seals born early in the season in Hawaii (pups can be born any time of year, but typically between May and September) reminds me of when my wife and I got to show her parents this March baby on the Big Island.
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An endangered Hawaiian monk seal wakes up from an afternoon nap, looks across the tide pool and sees me, with my large telephoto lens, taking her photograph. To me, she looks annoyed.
Just before the lockdown in 2020, my wife & I took a hike on Oahu’s
North Shore, this little one - RL74, a weaner from Molokai who wasn’t quite a year old.
She woke up from an afternoon snooze to spot me and my big lens across the tide pool... what do you think of her expression?
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