Seal pups on Kaua'i being protected

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Two monk seal pups born on south Kaua'i beaches Aug. 2 and 4 are doing well, growing stronger and getting more active by the day, wildlife officials said yesterday.

The pups are expected to be weaned in about five weeks. Until then, authorities will continue to restrict access to the animals' vicinity, which also may put portions of popular beaches off limits to people.

Visitors approaching the area are being given educational materials and having their questions answered by volunteers trained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries branch and the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary staff.

"The community's response continues to be excellent," said Tamra Faris, assistant administrator for protected resources with NOAA Fisheries.

Hawaiian monk seals are an endangered species whose population has dropped to about 1,300, most of them in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Oddly, pups born around the major Hawaiian islands are often larger and healthier than those born in the seals' main habitat.

NOAA Fisheries marine biologist Brad Ryon said several female seals on the main islands have had healthy pups. The one at Po'ipu Beach raised pups there in 2000 and 2001, and gave birth to another on a different part of Kaua'i's coast in 2002.

"These animals do very well and raise healthy pups in the main Hawaiian Islands," Ryon said.

It is not clear why the pups thrive better on the main islands, where fish stocks are comparatively depleted, than in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, where resources are better, Ryon said. It may be a difference in competition: The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands have many more predators — notably sharks and ulua — that compete for many of the same foods that seals eat.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.