On April 14, Lesley Macpherson of the DLNR Division of State Parks, watched seal RN58 go for a sunrise swim, then return to a North Shore beach to give birth to the fifth monk seal pup born on Oahu this year, which she filmed and witnessed.
PO5 was born in the afternoon at around 2:30 p.m. “As soon as its sac burst, the little one starting wiggling around. Mom checked on it by vocalizing. He was able to move fast,” said Macpherson according to a release from the DLNR.
By Friday, the pup was successfully nursing and had also tried out the ocean. “Mom moves down to the waterline to cool off,” Macpherson recalled. “And her day-old offspring follows and does circles around her.”
This was Macpherson’s sixth time documenting a live birth of a monk seal. NOAA reported the birth of PO5 was the second of two Hawaiian monk seal births on Oahu in the last week, per the DLNR; three additional pups were born earlier this year but died due to undetermined causes.
Though many visitors and beachgoers may be curious about mom and pup, please be mindful that these animals need their privacy. Hawaiian monk seals are an endangered species.
“It’s really important, especially during rearing and weaning, that people respect the boundaries set up to protect these seal pairs and to keep their dogs on leashes at all times,” said Ryan Jenkinson, Protected Species Program Lead for the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR).
A first-time mom, RH92, survived an off-leash dog attack, right after she had weaned her pup.
“So many people are passionate about protecting monk seals and it was exciting to witness the birth of PO5 and to be able share it with others,” said Macpherson. “My hope is that when people see these images, they’ll too become passionate about protecting all our creatures.”
DLNR, NOAA Fisheries, and Hawaii Marine Animal Response will continue to actively monitor the moms and their pups for the next five to six weeks.
Nuy Cho is the executive producer of Spectrum News Hawaii. She writes the surf report and covers other general news. Read more of her stories here.