Baby monk seal will be relocated after weaning

The Rocky and Kaimana Show — a Waikiki sensation since late June — is coming to an end soon.

State and federal wildlife officials announced Tuesday that they will be relocating baby Hawaiian monk seal Kaimana — born on Waikiki’s Kaimana Beach some six weeks ago — to a secluded Oahu shore after mom Rocky finishes weaning the pup and naturally leaves her behind.

Officials said they made the decision to move the pup to an undisclosed shoreline to allow the young animal to continue her natural growth as a wild seal with less human interaction and exposure to man-made hazards. The move also aims to head off potential safety issues for people.

Rocky is expected to leave her pup in a day or two, they said.

“It will probably be a very abrupt situation,” David Schofield, National Marine Fisheries Service regional marine mammal response coordinator, told the news media at Kaimana Beach. “That may make some people sad or to think that maybe it’s cruel or harsh. But monk seals are not like people.”

Since the rare birth on busy Kaimana Beach in late June, the mom and pup have thrilled tens of thousands in their role as tourist attractions and internet stars. Their every move has been protected by lifeguards and a team of volunteers.

Reared exclusively on Rocky’s mother’s milk, Kaimana has grown from a scrawny black pup into a fat, darker miniature of her mom, weighing about 120 pounds or so.

Monk seals typically rear their pups for five to seven weeks. Rocky, now rearing her 10th pup, weaned all of her previous pups between 39 and 42 days, leaving officials to believe she’s nearly ready to move on.

Schofield said he would expect the mother to take off in the next few days after giving all the mother’s milk she can give. Typically a pup lingers on the birth beach for a couple of weeks, exploring and learning to find food before venturing out in the wider ocean surrounding the islands.

On Tuesday, mom and pup were lying on the beach makai of the news conference, but were missing in action when it came time for a scheduled Hawaiian blessing on the beach shortly afterward. On cue, however, the monk seals made their way to shore as the kahu was finishing his chant.

The decision to move the seal was made following discussion and analysis by a team of experts, managers and scientists from the fisheries service and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Officials said they examined their options from all angles. Adding weight to the move option was the potential danger represented by the dilapidated Waikiki Natatorium. The tiny seal has found its way into the pool of the 90-year-old closed facility at least three times, including Monday night.

The natatorium, officials said, is booby-trapped with unseen, underwater hazards such as rebar and confined places where a seal could get trapped.

“It’s a deteriorating infrastructure, and that’s no place for a Hawaiian monk seal,” Schofield said.

Bruce Anderson, administrator of the state Division of Aquatic Resources, said that if they leave the pup on Kaimana Beach she is more likely to get in trouble while interacting with beachgoers.

“The people have been extraordinarily respectful of the seals,” he said. “I’m not sure the seal will be as respectful to the public as the people have been.”

If left to imprint and socialize with people, they are likely to develop undesirable behaviors, he said. Young seals elsewhere have been known to expect and crave attention, and become aggressive to the point of nipping at swimmers and holding them underwater.

Stacie Robinson, a research ecologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program, said officials examined eight potential locations for the seal’s relocation before settling on a plan A and plan B, places where Kaimana should have no problem continuing to develop into a wild animal with natural behaviors.

NOAA previously has translocated 12 young pups in the main Hawaiian Islands and dozens of others in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Robinson said.

“We’ve done this for many years,” Schofield said, “and we find that if we move seals when they are young and still learning a lot in their life and still impressionable — maybe a little naive to the world — if we move them very quickly after weaning and place them on a beach, they fare as well as a pup born on a specific beach.”

The endangered Hawaiian monk seal population was steadily declining until about three years ago. Since 2013 the number of monk seals has increased by 3 percent annually from 1,100 to 1,400, according to federal officials.

In the main Hawaiian Islands monk seals total about 300, with 40 to 50 on Oahu, including Rabbit Island, they said.

Hawaiian monk seals spend about two-thirds of their life in the ocean. During the one-third of their life they spend on land, the mothers give birth.

“The last 40 days have been an extraordinary opportunity for us and members of the public to get to know Rocky and her pup, Kaimana, and to see the world from their eyes. And it’s been a wonderful opportunity for all of us to experience this,” DLNR Director Suzanne Case said.