Monk seals are endangered and only a handful regularly live in the waters around the Big Island. The seal in these photos is one of these and I’m lucky enough to see him on a regular if not always frequent basis. When I do see him, it’s not unusual for him to be submerged in a tide pool as he was on this day.
Sometimes, when there’s been rain, the tide pool will be brown with runoff and all I see is this body with its head submerged. When I first saw this, I wondered if the seal had drowned, but since a monk seal can hold it’s breath for 20 minutes or more I know that’s not what’s going on.
What I like on this occasion, was the little fish (seen above) swimming around the seal’s head and through his whiskers. I like to think it was wondering what the heck this giant lump was that had suddenly taken up most of the space in its pool.
Graham's Island 
Somehow surprising that it sleep with its nose underwater, even if it can hold its breath for 20 minutes!
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They often do. I think maybe if they’ve been basking in the sun, being in or under the water cools them.
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I guess they have to wake up every 20 minutes or only take short naps.
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If their head’s underwater, yes. If they’re stretched out on the rocks, or in a shallow pool, they seem to sleep longer. I’ve seen IO5 a lot and sometimes I wonder if he’s dead because he doesn’t move at all.
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He must feel very secure to sleep like that, which is nice, even if a bit unnerving for sympathetic observers.
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A monk seal’s main predators are sharks, so resting on land is a secure spot. This particular seal, which I see quite regularly, has a certain swagger to him, as though not much worries him.
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Cute 😊
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Great shots, glad he was just chillin’
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I almost hate to say anything about him because he just ticks along and continues to look in great shape, and I don’t want to jinx him.
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