Blue Planet Journey

On Tuesday, I had a meeting with Suzanne Case , Chair of Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), and Lisa Fowler , CEO and President of the Hawaii Humane Society (HHS).  The topic?  Cats and cat management in Hawaii. I am humbly aware of my shortcomings here.  First, look who is in the room!  Suzanne Case, born and raised in Hawaii, was the Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy in Hawaii from 2001-2015.  She knows the issues, the location , and the politics . Suzanne Case, Chair, DLNR Likewise, Lisa Fowler has a great deal of experience, coming to the HHS after a stint as Executive Director of the Hawaii Island Humane Society.  Her organization  has spayed or neutered tens of thousands of cats in the last 2 decades, in addition to facilitating new homes for cats and dogs, and helping reunite lost pets with their companions. Lisa Fowler, CEO, HHS And then there is me. Me, lost in the woods, ...

Caroline observing 2 Hawaiian monk seals at Poipu Beach, Kauai. I am not a Hawaiian monk seal biologist.  I am interested in monk seals , I discuss monk seals in my wildlife course, and I may have even sent in a written comment on a draft monk seal management plan.  Daughter Katelin probably knows more about monk seals than I do, as evidenced by her publication : In 2016, the Hawaiian monk seal population was estimated to be 1427 individuals.  That is not a large population, although over the past 5 years, the growth rate of the population seems to be increasing at 3% per year, with the highest growth rates on the Main Hawaiian Islands.  That’s good news.  The bad news is that the the population is still small, and threats to the population continue. What are those threats ?  NOAA lists them as follows, although they are not listed in any order of priority or importance: •. Adult male aggression :  Some males cause injury or death t...

Cats on Oahu are not randomly distributed over the landscape.  There are some places that have a high density of cats (I can think of the Hawaii Kai Park & Ride a couple of years ago, as well as the UH Manoa campus), and places with a low density (UH's Lyon Arboretum, Kapiolani Park, or Magic Island). In general, cat management concerns relate either to density (lots of cats in a small area) or behavior (one or more cats with "inappropriate" behaviors - predation, spraying, droppings, noise, et cetera).  In Hawaii, there is also a conversation about parasite shedding ( Toxoplasma gondii ).  That will be the topic of a future blog. I have heard of complaints about "large numbers of cats" at the state-managed Keehi Harbor , located about 5 miles from Waikiki, near HNL on Sand Island.  I don't know a lot about this boat harbor, but I spent many mornings a few years back sailing around this triangle-shaped island in the harbor again and again an...