Hawaiian monk seal

Here on the Big Island, it is not ordinary to see a Hawaiian monk seal when going to the beach. There are certain secluded beaches where monk seals have been seen, but you have to hike to them. However, when visiting Kauai, just about every beach we went to had one, sometimes two, snoozing monk seals on the beach.

When first seeing an adorable seal on the sand posing perfectly for the camera, it may be tempting to get closer and snap a picture. If you are at a popular beach with a lot of people, usually a large circle around the beached seal is roped off by the Parks Department, but not always. Just remember that these seals are protected, and you could pay as much as a $25,000 fine for disturbing one.

The Hawaiian monk seal spends a great amount of it’s time at sea, but comes also as well. People's first guess when they come across a seal on the sand, is that it is sick, or dying, but this is rarely the case. Usually they just want to rest, or perhaps avoid a predator. Hawaii’s beautiful coral reefs are home to many of the little critters monk seals enjoy eating, such as lobsters, octopi, eels, and fish, but the seals are also known to dive down as far as 400 feet to feed. Monk seals can grow to be as big as 7.5 ft long and 500 to 600 pounds. The monk seal got it’s name because of its folds of skin that resemble a monk's cowl, and also because it is usually seen alone or in small groups.


The seal is called, `Ilio holo I ka uaua, by Hawaiians. This means, "dog that runs in rough water.” The protective mother monk seal stays with her pups continually until they are about 6 weeks old. During this time, mother seals may lose hundreds of pounds because they don’t eat.

Approximately 1,300 to 1,400 Hawaiian monk seals live in the wild, and there are many reasons why those numbers continue to decrease. Their natural habitat has been disappearing - and still is - because of the encroachment of human beings. They often get caught in fishing nets by accident. They have other predators as well, such as sharks, and sometimes the females fall victim to males who attack them in groups. This is called “mobbing.” The average life span of the Hawaiian monk seal, is 25 to 30 years. Although they are protected, their numbers continue to go down, and have been lessening more than ten percent each year since 1989.

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