Two whales rescued off Hau'ula
By Sara Lin
Advertiser Staff Writer
HAU'ULA — Ten-year-old Lauren Kamauu knew something was wrong as soon as she saw two small whales just a few yards off Hau'ula Beach Park yesterday.
U.S. Marine Corps photos
She immediately told her younger brother and sister to go for help, setting in motion a rescue effort that would last all day and into the night, ultimately involving more than two dozen residents, Marines, wildlife workers and even tourists.
Yesterday's rescue involved residents, wildlife workers, tourists and Marines, including Sgt. Michael Sloan, front left, and Staff Sgt. Frank Benavente.
Marlee Breese, of the UH Marine Mammal Research Program, helps Cpl. Steven Sparks prepare the whales for placement into a holding tank at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
"I said 'Call them, call them! Hurry up!' " Lauren said. At first she thought it was a dolphin. But, "up close I could see it was a whale."
By late yesterday afternoon, the two melon-headed whales had been placed in a small pool at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kane'ohe where they can be monitored, but their prognosis was uncertain. The whales will be tended constantly, one person supporting each as they are walked around the pool, until they begin to swim on their own, officials said. Blood samples have been taken and results are expected today.
The drama began around 8:30 a.m. yesterday when Lauren saw one of the whales trying to beach itself. A second whale hovered a little farther away. Both apparently had approached the beach through a channel in the reef.
Her call went out, and volunteers jumped into the water to help keep the animals afloat. Police and wildlife rescue workers were notified.
Nita Ahlo and Charles Petrie were among the first people to answer Lauren's call.
"One was stuck in the rocks, the other was coming in," Petrie said. "We had a lot of locals kept trying to pull them back out. They wanted to come onshore; they were trying to beach themselves."
Meanwhile, the crowd of volunteers grew.
They managed to move the whales away from the channel and the reef and into calmer water. The two whales floated next to each other, with a crowd of about 15 people gathered around them, petting them and keeping them from drifting toward the beach. The crowd held them in chest-deep water just 20 feet offshore.
"We were able to stand and just hold them. They were calm," said Alice Stoger, a visitor from Austria.
Don Sand was heading to the beach for a swim around 9:30 a.m. when he saw the whales and stopped to help. He noticed that one of the whales had damaged its mouth, while both had long lacerations down their sides, presumably from the reef, he said. When he first approached the whales, Sand thought the smaller one seemed more dazed, while the bigger whale was more agitated.
U.S. Marine Corps photo
"We found by accident that if we brought them close together, they started relaxing," Sand said. "Then we started petting them and they relaxed again. One turned over and closed its eye."
Bob Braun, veterinarian and president of the Hawaiian Island Stranding Response Group, helps one of the whales around UH's Marine Mammal Research Program holding tank at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
Madeleine Akina of 'Ewa Beach was visiting her mother near Hau'ula when she heard about the whales. She hopped back into the car and took her 4-year-old grandson Toa down to the beach.
"I was so stoked about this," Akina said afterward. "I'm just glad I had the opportunity to help my grandson see these whales. I can't believe it."
A rescue crew from Hawaiian Island Stranding Response determined that the whales needed medical attention. The Marines at Kane'ohe responded to their call for assistance, offering two vans, several Marines to help with the transport, and an escort with flashing lights. And by early afternoon the whales were on their way to the Marine base.
"The fact that they're on the beach at all is a very bad sign," said Marlee Breese of Hawaiian Island Stranding Response, which has taken charge of the whales' recovery. "They're weak and they're disoriented."
Little is known about these deep-water animals, which grow to be about 8 feet long and more than 350 pounds, Breese said. The whales found yesterday were both males, weighing 360 pounds and 385 pounds. Breese said she suspects one or both of them may be sick and that one of the whales may be older, because it had flat teeth. Melon-headed whales typically travel in groups of 100 or more.
"To have one in near-shore waters would be considered unusual, because they are very deep-water animals," Breese said. "To have animals on the beach is always unusual and never a good thing." She added that it's also unusual to see two stranded animals. "Generally if you have a sick animal, most of the time it's an individual."
Breese commended all who helped the whales at Hau'ula Beach Park.
"The fact that there were people there in the water, supporting the animals, keeping them wet — they did a very good job," she said.
