A Coast Guard helicopter today airlifted an abandoned Hawaiian monk seal pup from Kane'ohe Bay to an undisclosed location for release into the wild.

The seal pup, named KP2, was found abandoned by its mother when it was a day old on a Kaua'i beach in May.

It spent the next few months under critical care at the Kewalo Research Facility of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The pup gained weight there and its condition stabilized.

Then it was transferred to a shore pen at the Marine base, where it has been learning to survive in the wild.

KP2 was scheduled to be released last Thursday, but the release was postponed because of the storm that day.