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The year 2018 has been a record one for Hawaiian monk seal pups born in the main Hawaiian isles.
While no monk seal moms gave birth in Waikiki last year as Rocky did in summer 2017, creating a stir that generated attention worldwide, it was a good year for pups, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
As of Nov. 2, 30 pups had been born in the main Hawaiian islands, soundly beating the previous record of 21 pups in 2013, NOAA Fisheries said. In addition, eight of last year’s pups were born to first-time moms, including one recently to new mom R8HE in Maui County.
BY THE NUMBERS
>> 30 — Number of Hawaiian monk seal pups born on main islands in 2018
>> 21 — The previous record of Hawaiian monk seal pups born in one year (2013)
>> 1,400 — Number of Hawaiian monk seals in the wild
Hawaiian monk seals, a critically endangered species found only in Hawaii, are protected by both federal and state laws. Only an estimated 1,400 monk seals remain in the wild, according to NOAA, with about 1,100 in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and 300 in the main Hawaiian islands.
“We know some folks get really excited about new seal pups and want to go see them in person — we do too!” said NOAA Fisheries in an online post. “But too many visitors can unintentionally disrupt resting and nursing. That’s why we usually refrain from publicizing specific pup locations and we ask that you do the same. By not specifying pup locations in our social media posts, we can help keep disturbance to a minimum.”
NOAA representatives could not be reached for further comment due to the federal government shutdown.
Jon Gelman, president of Hawaii Marine Animal Response, a nonprofit group that works to protect the seals and other animals in partnership with NOAA, said 2018 was a busy year, with pups, sightings and a few hookings. To his knowledge, six monk seal pups were born on Oahu, including two at Manana island, commonly known as Rabbit Island, and at least a dozen on Molokai.
Rocky gave birth again to a healthy male pup in July on Kauai, where she usually pups. NOAA officials held a press conference in advance of the birth, reminding the public not to approach monk seal moms with pups and to refrain from swimming nearby. While monk seals are generally docile, NOAA said females can become aggressive while protecting their pups.
“We were kind of pins and needles when we knew she was approaching her approximate birth date,” said Gelman. “We had seen her on Oahu and were prepared to mobilize if she gave birth on Oahu again, but she disappeared a couple of days and appeared on Kauai.”
In another turn of events, Rocky exhibited aggression toward her pup, RK58, and appeared to have left him. Volunteers tried to reunite the two but were unsuccessful. Concerned the pup could not survive on its own with an approaching hurricane, RK58 was transported in August to Ke Kai Ola, the monk seal hospital run by the Marine Mammal Center in Kailua-Kona.
Fortunately, RK58 had good company at the hospital with another pup, Sole, a male born over the summer at Kalaupapa and given his Samoan name by the community.
Sole doubled his weight while at Ke Kai Ola and was successfully released at Molokai over the fall, outfitted with a NOAA satellite tracking tag. The day before Thanksgiving, volunteers spotted him doing well off Oahu.
RK58 remains at Ke Kai Ola, where he is doing well in the company of two pups rescued from Laysan Island.
Kauai also had a record year, with seven monk seal pups born there in 2018, according to Kim Rogers, a volunteer with the Kauai Hawaiian Monk Seals Conservation Hui and writer of the Kaua‘i Seals blog. One of the pups was a stillborn, which is not unusual for first-time monk seal moms.
“We’re hoping (this) year she will have a healthy pup,” Rogers said.
In a blog post, Rogers reported one of the Kauai seals, RK90, appeared to be pregnant. The same seal is believed to have given birth to her first pup on Niihau in 2017.
“We oftentimes have Niihau moms who were born on Kauai but they come back and forth,” she said. “We see them on our islands and then they disappear for six weeks and show up again very skinny.”
Female monk seals pup only once a year and not every year. While most births occur between February and August, some have been recorded year-round.
To report sightings of monk seal mom-pup pairs on beaches unprotected by signs or volunteers, call NOAA’s hot line at 888-256-9840.
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