HONOLULU — There have been 18 monk seal pups born in Hawaii so far this year, according to federal environmental officials.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported 11 on Molokai, five on Oahu and one each on Kauai and Hawaii Island.
The agency said the number falls short of the record 48 pups born in the main Hawaiian islands last year.
Monk seals can be born any time of the year, but the number of births usually peak in the spring in summer, the agency said. Nine of the 18 this year were born in early May.
“While monk seals aren’t typically considered aggressive, a nursing mom can be very protective,” the agency said in a statement. “For some mom-pup pairs, this year was quieter than usual, due to the closure of various beach parks between late March and mid-May.”
Staff and volunteers were not able to monitor seals on shorelines as frequently as before the pandemic, but still did spot checks of the pups, the agency said.
Hiwahiwa, Hawaii Island’s lone monk seal pup this year, is doing well, according to The Marine Mammal Center’s Ke Kai Ola Monk Seal Hospital in Kailua-Kona. The male monk seal was born in late April to R405, a “transient” seal with a fairly unknown history first spotted in March 2019.
He was weaned in mid-June, which is when R405 was last spotted by officials with the monk seal hospital.
The “weaner” is being kept busy by Kaulana, a male monk seal born last year at the same beach to RA20. Both Kaulana and RA 20 are doing well, as is Kaulana’s sister, Manuiwa, a female monk seal born in 2018 at Mahaiula. All three recently moulted.
An estimated 1,400 monk seals inhabit the main and Northwestern Hawaiian islands, according to NOAA. Approximately 300 of those seals cruise the waters and haul up on beaches in the main Hawaiian Islands, including about a half dozen on the Big Island.
West Hawaii Today contributed to this report.