Despite her mom’s protests, Kaimana, a 5-week-old Hawaiian monk seal born on Kaimana Beach, returned Thursday for a dip at the Waikiki Natatorium, the second in less than a week.
But this time mom Rocky went after her daughter, and the two swam together in the big pool for the first time.
“Young seals are naturally curious and a little bit mischievous,” said David Schofield, Marine Mammal Health and Response coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries. “She wandered and explored a little too far out of mom’s comfort zone. We saw a lot of vocalizations.”
Mom Rocky had to “muster the courage to get into the natatorium” and swim through an inflow and outflow pipelike opening roughly 1-1/2 times her girth, Schofield said.
“Her fear of going through there was outweighed by her instinct to protect her pup by collecting it,” he said.
Last Friday night Kaimana had left her mother and was found swimming in a canal area of the natatorium. NOAA personnel used a beach blanket from a beachgoer as a stretcher, rolled her onto it and hauled her out and returned her to her mother, who called out to Kaimana.
The pup left her mom behind on the sand at Kaimana Beach, just before 11 a.m. Thursday, swimming to the natatorium.
Rocky called out to her pup. The mom then swam out to the natatorium at about 11:35 a.m., city officials said.
Schofield said Rocky was initially outside the natatorium stress-vocalizing and swimming rapidly but later calmed down.
Mom swam back out at 1:35 p.m., and they were both back on the beach before 2 p.m.
City lifeguards, using megaphones, cleared swimmers out of the water to ensure the safety of the public and the seals.
City Department of Design and Construction workers guided NOAA personnel into the dilapidated natatorium.
Caught on video by city personnel, Kaimana frolicked in the pool with her mother.
Schofield said he didn’t see mom scolding pup, but it appeared that while Kaimana was still in the natatorium, Rocky voiced a signal to follow her out, “to try to get the baby to swim through the hole with her.”
Rocky will probably leave Kaimana on or around Aug. 8 when the pup is 40 days old, Schofield said. Kauai-
born Rocky has, on average, weaned her previous pups on day 40.
While nursing, Rocky does not actively feed, but transfers nutrition to her pup from her body mass until she has depleted all her reserves, Schofield said. That’s when she will leave her pup.
Many were delighted to watch the monk seals. Hawaii Kai resident Jonah Liu, 8, said, “It was drinking the mother’s milk.”
His brother, Keenan Liu, 10, chimed in: “It was a great example of life.”
Cousin Isaiah Suemoto, 8, described the seals in a word: “Cool!”
Protected under state and federal law, the Hawaiian monk seal is one of the most endangered marine mammals in the world, NOAA Fisheries says. It is endemic to Hawaii, meaning it is native to Hawaii and found nowhere else. At least 300 individual seals live in the main Hawaiian Islands.
