Hawaiian monk seal and her new pup

There’s a new monk seal pup on the Big Island and, happily, both mother and pup are doing well. The pup is just over a month old now and its mother will stay with it for another two weeks or so. At that point, she’ll head out to feed, having not eaten since giving birth, and the pup will be left to fend for itself.

I’ve been to see them three times and the pup’s growth has been dramatic as seen in the third and fifth photos. In the top one, the pup is 11 days old and below, exactly a month old.

For more information about Hawaiian monk seals, go to www.pifsc.noaa.gov/hawaiian_
monk_seal/ or www.marinemammalcenter.
org/hawaii.

Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge to be a visual storyteller.

15 thoughts on “Hawaiian monk seal and her new pup”

  1. Pingback: Monk seal resting | Graham's Island

  2. Pingback: Monk seal and pup | Graham's Island

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    1. Graham Post author

      I’m glad you stopped by. It’s always nice for me to see monk seals. Only 5 seals or so live permanently around the Big Island and I don’t believe this mother is one of them. She was born on Kauai and usually they return home to pup, so this is a bit unusual.

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    1. Graham Post author

      Thanks. Mom won’t return. During their 6 weeks or so together, mom feeds the pup, looks out for its well-being, takes it out swimming, and shows it what it will need to do to survive. When she leaves, she doesn’t return. I think only about one in three pups make it to adulthood, but so far all the signs for this one are good.

      Liked by 1 person

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