Monk Seal Monday #21: (P)update Correction & Announcement

A few weeks ago, we reported the gender of PK1 as male. Well, she fooled both volunteers and veteran monk seal biologists, because more recent photographs reveal that PK is not male. She’s female. That’s good news. It takes more females (than males; sorry guys) to grow the Hawaiian monk seal population. Here’s the photographic evidence.

See the five dots in the shape reminiscent of the number five on a pair of dice? That’s the tell-tale sign.

In other pup news, we now have a “weaner.” After 37* days of care for her newborn, this pup’s mom, RK13, weaned her not-so-little one. This is normal monk seal biology. During the time from birth to weaning, monk seal moms do not forage. They stick by their pup’s side, nursing them and taking near-shore swims with them. Moms eventually lose half their body weight or more, and hunger drives them back to the sea for nourishment. This is how weaning occurs. Kauai’s first weaner of 2018 will now spend the next few months figuring out what’s good to eat in the sea. Weaners tend to stick around their natal birth site while doing this. Now is also a vulnerable time for new weaners, as they explore their surroundings, both near-shore and on the beach, making it as important as ever to give them wide space to do so safely–away from interactions with humans and dogs.

In the next few weeks, PK will be outfitted with flipper tags. Stay tuned. We’ll announce pup’s official tag numbers once she’s tagged.

Here are a few more photos of PK1’s last days with RK13. (Photo credit J. Thomton.) Note the molting on a couple closeups of the muzzle and tail flippers. You can also see in a few of these the size differential between mom and pup, indicating how much weight mom has lost and how much pup has gained.

 

*UPDATE: The official number of nursing days was changed from 41 to 37. It seems RK13 gradually weaned her pup. She first left her pup for a few hours on Friday and, again, on Saturday and Sunday. As of Sunday evening at sunset, the two had hauled out on the beach about 40 yards from each other. By the next morning, Monday, RK13 was gone. PK1’s first entire day alone was Memorial Day, May 28, 2018.

 

 

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Field Report: April 2018

 

Sightings:

The Kauai team logged 303 seal sightings this month. This included 30 individually identified seals.

April: 303
March: 299
Feb: 259
Jan: 336

New:

• RK13 gave birth to PK1 on 4/20/2018. Extensive monitoring was immediately set-up and continues. Unfortunately, the location is notorious for off-leash dogs and past conflict between beach users and the monk seal program. Thus far, only minor issues have risen. Pup continues to thrive.
• RK52 gave birth to stillborn female pup. This was RK52’s first birth. Carcass was sent to Oahu for necropsy.

Updates:

• NG00 was re-sighted once this month and is likely still hooked. (See previous monthly updates for background.)
• Poipu Keiki Pool: 2 displacements took place this month.
• Bleach markings: 2 seals bleach marked this month.
• Molting activity: one seal continues to molt this month.

Research/Support of Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center:

• Sub-sampled scat, molt, and tissue plug samples.
• Logged all seal sightings. Thomton organized photos and reported sightings, molt tallies, survival factors to send to PIFSC.

 

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Monk Seal Monday #20: (P)update!

PK1 is 3.5 weeks old today, and he’s healthy-looking, active, and spending more and more time swimming. His routine of late finds him exploring the nearshore waters in the mornings and sleeping on the sand in the afternoons. Such is the life of a young Hawaiian monk seal pup.

Here’s a sweet sequence of images of PK1 and his mom RK13. You can also see how mom is losing weight, the natural course of a nursing monk seal mom’s biology. Her rib and shoulder bones are starting to become visible. She basically fasts the entire time she nurses her pup–all the while he packs on the pounds. Eventually, hunger will drive her to the sea to forage, at which point, he’ll be weaned.

Now, enjoy the slide show. (Photo credit goes to Jamie Thomton.)

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Monk Seal Monday #19: Gender Reveal

And now for the big gender reveal: The pup born on April 20th is a boy.

Mom (RK13) and pup (PK1) are doing great. Pup is growing stronger, and the two are swimming farther. They’ve even started to swim outside their large enclosure but for now continue to return to it to haul out, rest and nurse. But likely, not for long. As pup enters week three, he and mom will swim and explore more, notching total swim times of four to five hours a day. Soon, we’ll switch up their enclosure to a more portable one utilizing mesh fence panels. This can make for a busy time for our volunteers.

But there are interesting things to observe, as well, in pups of this age. Soon, he’ll start his first molt, losing his shiny black natal coat. Typically, it starts with the muzzle, face, chest, neck, and sides.

When pup wants to eat, he’ll vocalize and maybe even nip at mom to get her to roll over, so he can access her teats. Here’s an interesting factoid: The bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) (Mohr, 1952) and the monk seal are apparently the only phocids having four functional teats. Those four are apparently getting good use with PK1. Let’s run some numbers: Say PK1 weighed 25 pounds at birth. And let’s say mom weans him at five weeks when pup weighs 150 pounds. That means pup is gaining 25 pounds per week. Or 3.5 pounds per day. Maybe more.

Little is known about Hawaiian monk seal milk. Much is inferred from other seal species. Like the fact that milk composition changes throughout the course of lactation. A newborn needs more water than fat. Whereas, an older pup can derive water metabolically from fat stores, a newborn can only obtain water by ingesting its mothers’ watery milk. As a pup ages, its mother’s milk fats increase while the water content decreases.

As pup starts swimming more, he’s also started exploring his surroundings on land. Unfortunately, this can include rubbish and marine debris on the beach. Some time between weeks three and four, pup’s teeth will start to erupt through his gums.

As is often the case whenever a pup is born, some males have been visiting the scene, as well. Here’s a video of RK13’s response to a curious male (R330). It’s fair to say that this is the same way she’d respond to a person or a loose dog who gets too close to her, as well–and in the water, she’s much more swift and agile. A mother’s tenancy is protect her pup is strong and why we encourage people and their pets to give monk seal mamas plenty of space.

Speaking of videos, here’s one taken of a Hawaiian monk seal weaner with a knife in his mouth. This was taken in April off Hawaii Island. While this pup was uninjured and the knife eventually retrieved by a DOCARE officer, it’s a good reminder to properly dispose of trash. However, there are other ways dangerous items may accidentally make their way to the shoreline, such as during the recent heavy rains and flooding on Kauai, making beach cleanups all the more important for humans and animals.

Monk Seal and Knife from Hawaii DLNR on Vimeo.

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