A newly weaned Hawaiian monk seal might make an appearance around the Kaiwi coastline on Oahu over the Memorial Day weekend — a worrisome thought for those looking out for her.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Hawaii Marine Animal Response want to make sure that the impressionable pup, a 48-day-old female known as PO2 — or more affectionately as Nohea — has as little interaction with humans as possible.

“She’s been showing up near some very busy beach areas, as well as hauling out in areas with a lot of vehicle traffic on the beach,” said Angela Amlin, Hawaiian monk seal recovery coordinator for NOAA Fisheries. “This pup may be very curious and may start approaching people in the water or on land, which can result in injury to the approach person and can alter the seal’s natural behavior and ability to fend for itself in the wild.”

People are heading outdoors again as the state recovers from the COVID-19 outbreak, and HMAR said Nohea has already had some close encounters, prompting a reminder for beachgoers prior to Memorial Day on Monday.

“We have had a couple of close encounters with both humans and unleashed dogs in just the last couple of days,” said Jon Gelman, HMAR president.

Nohea might approach people looking for social interaction, but habituating her to human contact could be problematic for her development. Beaches and shorelines are expected to be crowded, and interactions with people increase those risks.

Nohea, who was named by fourth grade students at Hauula Elementary School, is the third pup of well-known Hawaiian monk seal Kaiwi but has been weaned from her mother, so she has started venturing out by herself.

Kaiwi has given birth to all three of her pups on the Kaiwi coastline and was born in the area herself, Amlin said.

There are 1,400 Hawaiian monk seals in the Hawaiian Islands, 1,100 of which can be found around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, according to NOAA.

Individual seals’ ranges vary, but a pup like Nohea who has just been weaned from her mother is likely to have a smaller range, Amlin said, so she will likely stick around in the area.

“These younger ones, though, since they’ve just been abandoned by their mother, they have quite a smaller range. They’re not going to be circumnavigating the island or traveling to another island at this point in time,” she said.

HMAR, a nonprofit marine species conservation and animal response group, will be present during daylight hours and possibly during the night.

Hawaiian monk seals are endangered, but their population has been growing slowly over the past few years.

The threats to the seals in the main Hawaiian Islands are intentional harm by humans, fisheries interactions and taxoplasmosis.

On April 23 a well-known monk seal named Honey Girl, or R5AY, was found dead on a beach on the Windward side of Oahu.

It’s not clear what she died from, but because of limitations presumably from COVID-19 and Honey Girl’s burial, Amlin said they will not be able to determine a cause of death.

Two days after Honey Girl’s death, a pregnant seal named R313 was found dead on Haena Beach on Kauai. R313 has been buried, and it’s also unclear what caused her death.

Amlin said people can help protect Nohea by keeping their distance, making sure their dogs are leashed and refraining from driving on the beach, where monk seals can resemble rocks if they’re not moving.

Honolulu police will make periodic checks in the area, and driving on the beach is prohibited.