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COURTESY MARINE MAMMAL CENTER
Kilo the seal was photographed in Lihue while awaiting transport by the U.S. Coast Guard to Kailua-Kona.
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An abandoned Hawaiian monk seal pup found Monday on Niihau is the first from the main Hawaiian Islands to be admitted to the Marine Mammal Center’s Ke Kai Ola Hospital.
The female pup named Kilo, which means “sassy” in Hawaiian, was found during a monk seal survey conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Michelle Barbieri, a veterinarian for the NOAA Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program and the Marine Mammal Center, assessed and stabilized the severely dehydrated and malnourished pup. Although likely anemic, the pup showed a great amount of energy.
When Kilo arrived Tuesday afternoon at Ke Kai Ola on Hawaii island, veterinary staff and trained volunteers gave her electrolytes through a stomach tube. She will continue to receive electrolytes several times a day.
“The tube feedings will start to include blended whole fish in the next 24 hours, as this pup is in dire need of calories. But we have to get her re-hydrated first,” operations manager Deb Wickham said Wednesday.
The pup is in guarded condition but experts are optimistic that she will fully recover and be released into the wild in a few months, the Marine Mammal Center said.
The rehabilitation facility has treated eight young monk seals from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Six have since returned to the wild and the remaining two will be released this weekend.