Seems poop was of particular interest to Hailey and Zaphod and their Lady , Francesca Villa and Blueberry's Mom. So I'll give ya a little scoop on the poop.
Fortunately for you, I wasn't able to find any of my "poop" photos, but let me tell you the science folks consider collecting monk seal poop to be like finding gold. Poop is golden!! It is, because it tells the science folks what the story of the monk seal's diet. Recent findings show that seals eat approximately 15lbs of seafood a day . Their diet consist of reef fish, octopus(tako), eels, lobsters, crabs and squid. Seals seem to prefer yummies found in holes or under rocks and not eating the popular gamefish that swim in open water. It's a amazing what the poop tells, with this info we learn to what depths the seals go to obtain their lunch.
Collecting the poo can be somewhat challenging as the science folks like it fresh--better to determine the type of fish digested. Now collecting fresh poo is tricky, as we CAN NOT disturb a seal in any way to collect the "gold" so, most of the time it's just luck that you come upon a fresh specimen!!That's why it's such a rare find. Poo is poo and yes it stinks, of course it's worse when it's fresh. If we do find a specimen we bag it, then bag it again and it's sent to the Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center on Oahu. The fun begins there when an eager intern digs into the bag and determines what the seal has been munching on by studying all the little fish bones in the poo. Let me tell ya those folks get really excited when the poop arrives!!
So there you have the scoop on seal poop.
(Wonder if my good friend Barbara on Oahu might have some photos to share??? Oh Barbara!!!)
Next time I'll address KB's questions on monk seal pups and the Lady's interest in what is impacting the seal population.
Got questions, be sure to leave a comment on this post!!
Seal ya next Monday.
does it count that i have to scoop poop every time baby does her job? we follow her and pick it up because brother Jake will eat and and come inside and throw it up on a rug or carpet, never ever on the tile floor...
ReplyDeletethis is really interesting about the seals poop and that is the sweetest face sleeping. so cute....
We'd be happy to share some of our poop just in case those interns get bored. Goodness knows we have a lot of it!
ReplyDeleteWe find it interesting that they study the poop. But what in the world do they do with the data?
Hugs,
Lily Belle & Muffin
i'd hate to be that lab intern. :) but one person's poo is another one's treasure. :)
ReplyDeleteHaha Val your post made my day! I can't stop laughing (@ poop is gold)! Thank you for answering my question :)! I can't wait to read more about these lovely seals!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a great Labor Day! Hugs, Francesca
Hi there, I never realized how special the "gold" is; didn't see any volunteers looking for it when I was there last. Val, you are just so fun to hang out with-even in cyberspace. Love you girl!
ReplyDeleteNoreen
Very interesting!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing about their poop! It was very interesting!
ReplyDeleteWe could find some for you, no worries
ReplyDeleteBenny & Lily
Oh, me and Stanley would like to sniff that poop!
ReplyDeleteYour Pals,
Murphy & Stanley
Sweet face! Just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteFinding and collecting Monk Seal poop couldn't be much worse than picking up after your dog... Could It? (Definitely not my favorite part of having two large dogs!)
ReplyDeleteWonder if they eat their lobster with drawn butter?...lol. Beautiful picture and interesting information.
ReplyDeleteHow does it smell? Is it worse than dog poop?
ReplyDelete