KAILUA-KONA — Keiki grow up so quickly.
A Hawaiian monk seal born March 20 at a Kona Coast beach is on his own after the endangered mammal’s mother RA20 followed nature’s course on May 5, heading out to sea on her own after 47 days nursing and preparing her offspring for the world.
Now named Kaulana, the once “little” 25-pound monk seal has packed on weight, topping 150 pounds. He’s also traded in his silky black coat in favor of the more typical seal color of silver.
“He’s a big boy,” Dr. Claire Simeone, hospital director at The Marine Mammal Center’s Ke Kai Ola Hawaiian Monk Seal Hospital in Kailua-Kona, said Thursday. “He’s went from at birth being the weight of a small dog to the weight of an adult human in just 47 days time — it’s just an incredible process.”
And it’s a process that’ll continue for some time — until the male seal reaches about 600 pounds.
“He’s got a lot of growing for sure,” she said.
Just hours after RA20 left the Kona Coast beach, the center’s staff and volunteers, as well as a team from NOAA fisheries, restrained the pup for a quick health exam. He was also microchipped and his rear flippers were tagged making him officially RL50.
“Everything looked great. He was very alert and vocal as we would expect so we’re really happy there,” Simeone said.
The seal got his Hawaiian name, Kaulana, just over a week before his weaning. Named by a cultural practitioner for the area, Kaulana means famous, celebrated, renowned, resting place, joyful, and quiet.
“All things that really describe him well,” Simeone said.
Now that the seal’s mother has taken off, it is imperative that humans keep a distance from Kaulana to increase his chance for survival. The seal is one of an estimated 1,400 Hawaiian monk seals in the main and northwester Hawaiian Islands.
“Pups of this age are just like toddlers — they’re exploring their world and they’re interested in everything,” said Simeone. “The most important thing we can do is to give seals space, particularly in the first few months after weaning because it’s such a critical time that we avoid any risk of animals becoming habituated to humans.”
Ke Kai Ola volunteers are monitoring the seal at the undisclosed site and guiding community members who come upon Kaulana on the proper ways to experience the mammal. A good “rule of thumb” to know if you’re too close to a monk seal is to hold up your thumb perpendicular to the animal, and if you can see any of the seal you are too close.
In the weeks since RA20 weaned Kaulana, the 11-year-old seal has been spotted resting at a beach north of the site where she has successfully birthed two seals now. Having spent the past month and a half dedicated to fattening up her pup, the seal has lost quite a bit of weight.
“She’s thin, and she’ll be using the next couple of months to regain and get her body weight back up and in good condition,” said Simeone.
Meanwhile, Kaulana’s older sister born last February, Manuiwa, is doing well and preparing for her first molt.
The juvenile female did approach RA20 and her pup several times, but was barked at by RA20 and retreated when she apparently got to close. Simeone said that since the weaning, staff and volunteers have yet to see an interaction between the Kaulana and his sibling, or any other of the seals that frequent the area for that matter.
“Just the fact that we got a handful of seals sharing a pretty small space there, it’s (an interaction) bound to happen,” she said. “It’ll be interesting to see how they work things out.”
Simeone expects Kaulana will stay close to his natal beach for about a month or so “taking small kind of ventures out before he starts to explore things more widely.”
Back at the monk seal hospital at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority, Ke Kai Ola staff and volunteers continue to care for a monk seal that arrived from Kauai on March 12 suffering from weakness, infection, broad-scale inflammation and malnutrition.
RH38, a 3.5-year-old female, is in stable but critical condition after undergoing a CT scan last month at North Hawaii Community Hospital in Waimea. The full-body scan — the first of its kind for a wild Hawaiian monk seal — showed the seal was suffering muscle inflammation and infection in her back flippers, which spread to her bloodstream and caused a wide range of other problems, according to The Marine Mammal Center.
Based on the location and extent of the muscle damage, veterinarians suspect trauma as the initial cause of the injury, though the source is unknown. RH38 is currently receiving antibiotics, pain medications and laser therapy.
“She’s continuing to make really important progress. Every day, she’s a little bit better,” Simeone said Thursday. “She’s still really critically ill, but I’m just so relieved that we have a diagnosis now and a treatment that appears to be working.”
In addition to RH38, the facility is working with Maiapilo and Akulikuli, two pups rescued last September from Laysan Island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The youngsters were brought to Ke Kai Ola suffering from malnutrition.
“The difference between when they first came in as starving pups to now these roly-poly, big fat pups is just wonderful,” said Simeone.
The seals should soon be boated back to the island following completion of release exams and paperwork.
“They are ready to get out there,” Simeone said.
As always, members of the public should keep a safe distance from monk seals and report sightings on Hawaii Island to the The Marine Mammal Center’s local response team at the 24-hour hotline by calling (808) 987-0765.
Volunteers are also needed at the Kona hospital and visitor center in a variety of roles, including animal care, education and response. Visit www.marinemammalcenter.org/kko-volunteer for more information.
