Tag Archives: Hawaiian Monk Seals

The Numbers Game #96

The space tracking station near South Point.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 218. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Frothy Monk Seal

A monk seal swimming off the North Kohala coast in Hawaii

This is BOO, a female Hawaiian Monk Seal, who I haven’t seen is quite some time. She had been resting in a pool at Upolu, but the tide was coming in. Eventually, she lumped her way out into the water, pausing in the frothy water by the rocks, before heading out to deeper water for a night of hunting no doubt.

Monk seal with an itch

A monk seal scratches itself in Hawaii

Hawaiian Monk Seals will often crawl up on shore to rest. I’ve been lucky enough to see quite a few over the years. This one is RM36/37, a female born in Kauai in 2020. I first saw her at Upolu just over a year ago, and last saw her there in December of last year. I don’t get down there as often as I used to, so it’s possible she’s been around without me seeing her.

I like to see her because she’s the daughter of BOO, a monk seal I saw several times back in 2016. I asked the response coordinator at the Marine Mammal Center if RM36/37 has a name, and she responded that she doesn’t and that she’s pretty mysterious all together!

The Numbers Game #60

Two Hawaiian monk seals tussle in a tide pool.
A pair of Hawaiian Monk Seals at Upolu. One of my favorite monk seal photos.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 181. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Monk seal and pup

A monk seal and pup at Keokea Park Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Cozy.’ See more responses here.

This mother and her pup were looking pretty cozy on the beach at Keokea Beach Park. Mothers stay with their pups for five to seven weeks. During this time, the mothers generally do not feed, while pups feed on their mother’s milk. Mothers are typically huge when they give birth, but they lose a lot of weight during the rearing time, while the pups get correspondingly bigger.

This pup was very young, and it was quite dramatic to see how quickly the pup got bigger and the mother smaller!

A monk seal and pup at Keokea Park Hawaii

Just the one monk seal

A Hawaiian Monk seal rests at Upolu, Hawaii

I saw this Hawaiian Monk Seal resting at Upolu earlier this year. So what qualifies her for Becky’s Squares: Seven? (See more responses here.) Nothing obvious in the top photo, but let’s take a closer look. A couple of scars, one of which looks a bit like a 7, but probably not that.

Scars on a Hawaiian Monk seal at Upolu, Hawaii

Hmmm. Too hard to figure out how many whiskers we’ve got here.

A Hawaiian Monk seal rests at Upolu, Hawaii

Ah, here we go. The tag on the flipper is M37. This is a prime way for researchers to track seals around the islands. I posted a photo of her with an M36 tag, but this one would have been in the other tail flipper.

Tag on a Hawaiian Monk seal at Upolu, Hawaii

The Numbers Game #30

Kite flying over Upolu.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 151. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

The Numbers Game #23

A Giant African Land Snail on the move in Hawaii
A Giant African Land Snail moves forward with purpose, if not speed.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 144. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Move Forward, Reconstruct, Renew, and/or are Burgeoning. See more responses here.