Hawaiian Monk Seal pups

When a pup of Hawaiian Monk Seal was born, it is jet black in color and weighs about 35 pounds and a length of about 3 feet. The first few weeks of its life are napping, nursing, and swimming in the shallows close to shore with its mother. The pup swimming starts on the birth date. Normally the nursing period is five to six weeks, but of course, the length of days are all different, some mother takes less than 40 days and others take near 60 days. It depends on the mother’s body condition.

The mother seal stays by her pup’s side constantly and does not go off to catch food for herself. She is nursing her pup without eating whole the nursing period.

Honey Girl, R5AY and her 11th pup, Keolakai, RK80 (a few days old) on April 15, 2018

First Week: The pup’s coat still solid black but start loose and has many folds in it. Its head and limbs appear disproportionately large.

Second Week: As the pup’s appetite increses, so does its size, and the folds in its coat begin to disappear.

Honey Girl, R5AY and her 12th pup, Makoa, RL36 (about three weeks old)

Third Week: Mother seal begins to show weight loss as her pup grows rapidly. Patches of light gray fur may begin to appear on the pup’s belly.

Fourth Week: Gary fur continues to replace the pup’s black birth coat. Both mother and pup spend more time in the water.

Fifth Week: Weeks of fasting have depleted the once obese mother to the point that the contours of her ribs are plainly visible through her skin. The pup, on the other hand, is now a roly-poly butterball with a tightly fitting gray coat.

Having cared for her pup for nearly forty days or more longer, the exhausted mother is ready to wean her pup. She has lost about half of her pre-birth weight, and if she does not eat soon she will die.

Honey Girl, R5AY and her 12th pup, Makoa, RL36 (41 days old) Photo by Kimo Smith

Her job complete, she quietly slips away, heading for open water to tend to her own nutritional needs. After the mother weaned her pup, it must now learn to forage for itself. The nutrition that the mother seal gives her pup is enough to survive for 2-3 months after she weaned her pup.

A weaned pup’s body size is weight around 200 pounds and its length about 4 feet.

Wawamalu, RK24 (Kaiwi, RK96’s 2nd pup) two weeks after weaned

What are the threats to Hawaiian Monk Seal recovery?

In the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the main threats include malnutrition, entanglement in marine debris, shark predation, and habitat loss due to climate change.

In the main Hawaiian Islands, the key threats include fishery interactions (fishing hook hooking and entanglements), human attacks and toxoplasmosis. Disease caused by morbillivirus is also an important threat however a vaccination program helps protect the species.

Hawaiian Monk Seal is solitary nature so that young pup’s survival is a very low percentage.

Reference: The Hawaiian Monk Seal by Patrick Ching

Let’s learn more about Hawaiian Monk Seal and become an ambassador of Hawaiian Monk Seal! How? Please come to join one of our Learn Hawaiian Monk Seal tours. I look forward to meeting you in person near future!!

Pupping season of Hawaiian Monk Seal

Most monk seal births occur during spring and summer; however, births have been documented during every month of the year.

Many mother seals can give birth every year, but some of them are not. The youngest female to delivered a pup was 4 years old; however, most females are older when they give birth to first pup. Female monk seals become sexually mature at about four to seven years old. It is not known at what age males bredding, but they typically reach adult size by 4 to 5 years old. The gestation period is estimated to be 11 months, but it has not been confirmed.

Kaiwi, RK96 (female, a mother of two pups) 7 years old and Kolohe, RW22 (male) 11 years old. Photo taken on May 5, 2019

In the weeks prior to giving birth, a pregnant seal stock food for blubber and milk, which will sustain her and her pup throughout the nursing period, about 5 to 6 weeks. She becomes extremely obese and many weigh over six hundred pounds. During the nursing period, the mother seal stays by her pup’s side constantly, she will not leave her pup alone in that period to protect her pup.

Kaiwi, RK96 was relaxing on the beach a few days before gave birth to her pup, Wawamalu, RK24 on April 23, 2018.

Finding a suitable birth site is her next priority, many mother seals are going back to her birth beach and gives birth her pup. Ideally it will be somewhere close to shallow, protected waters.

When she found the birth site she will haul out and settle there for a few days before giving birth.

The actual birth process is normally taking one to ten minutes from the time the pup’s head appears till parturition is complete. Once the pup hits the ground, it tears out of its embryonic sack and takes its first breath of air.

Mother and pup soon call to one another: mother with a deep bellowing “bwaaah” and pup with a high nasal “bwaaap!” The pup finds its mother’s four teats and starts suckles.

Honey Girl, R5AY and her 11th pup, Keolakai, RK80 (a few days old) on April 15, 2018.

Reference: The Hawaiian Monk Seal by Patrick ching

Please come to join one of our Learn Hawaiian Monk Seal tours and meet Hawaiian Monk Seals on the beache of Hawaii. See you soon!