A sincere desire to help the Hawaiian monk seal survive as a species is what motivates independent filmmakers Robin and Andrew Eitelberg of Monterey, Calif.
Since last fall the Eitelbergs have captured footage of the critically endangered monk seals in Hawaii — from Kona to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Their film, "One by One: The Struggle to Save the Hawaiian Monk Seal," seeks to highlight the plight of the marine mammal for a worldwide audience. Fewer than 1,100 monk seals exist today, with a population decline of about 4 percent a year.
The Eitelbergs have begun a campaign on Indiegogo to finance their film. Pledge $25 for a high-definition download of "One by One"; $50 for the film plus "soundscapes" of Hawaii’s waves, forests and seals; and $100 for the film, the soundscapes and a T-shirt.
As of Thursday the team had raised $7,870, about 25 percent of the goal.
The project kind of fell into the pair’s lap, according to Robin Eitelberg, 25, through mutual friends who first suggested the couple make a film about the seals.
When they followed isle media accounts of R5AY, a female monk seal with an ulua hook lodged in her mouth, they decided a film could be useful. Luckily, a crew from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries was able to rescue R5AY from the North Shore of Oahu, but it could have intervened sooner if it had been reported.
"There have been other projects about the Hawaiian monk seal but nothing that attempts to explain their situation in this kind of detail," said Andrew Eitelberg, 27.
The Eitelbergs are working with NOAA while filming the documentary.
When another hooked monk seal pup, Luana (tagged N58), was rescued from near death at Kaena Point in June, they filmed it. When four young, malnourished monk seals from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands were transported to Ke Kai Ola, the new monk seal hospital in Kona in July, they documented it.
"It was really fun to capture that spirit of hope, to see these seals that would probably otherwise die be given a second chance," said Robin Eitelberg.
The Eitelbergs are film studies graduates from the University of California, Berkeley, where they met. Their goal upon graduating was to make films that focus on environmental issues.
Even if they don’t reach their goal of $30,000, which would cover their out-of-pocket expenses to date, the filmmakers say they are dedicated to completing the documentary. They hope to finish editing this fall and premiere it in early spring.
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ON THE NET
>> indiegogo.com/projects/one-by-one-documentary
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Reach Nina Wu at nwu@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter @ecotraveler.
