MonkSealMania.blogspot.com: March 8, 2020 - A Third Generation of Hawaiian Monk Seals Born on Rabbit Island

Sunday, March 8, 2020

March 8, 2020 - A Third Generation of Hawaiian Monk Seals Born on Rabbit Island

The following was written by Marilyn Dunlap and I thank her for graciously sharing this information with the blog. As you read you will see that this information is from years of observations and how important it is to continue these efforts, because we have so much to learn.

NOTE: Please be respectful and do not use out of context. If you would like to share do so by providing a link to the Marilyn's post.

A Third Generation of Hawaiian Monk Seals Born on Rabbit Island

With all of the disappointing news this year for Hawaiian Monk Seals (HMS), from the deaths of young seals by drowning in nets, the possible deliberate killing of a young seal, and the devastating effects of toxoplasmosis on HMS, it has been easy to get discouraged about the fate of the species. But the news this week of the identity of the unknown mother monk seal who pupped on Rabbit Island sometime around February 21, 2020, has given me great hope.

If you haven’t heard, when the NOAA team went to Rabbit (Manana) Island on Thursday, March 5, they identified the mother seal as RF34 Pua who herself was born on Rabbit Island in April 2014. One intriguing aspect of this story is that RF34 was last reported sighted on September 4, 2014 when she was 5 months old. She had not been reported in the 5 years since. So where has she been all this time? Only Pua knows.

But this made me ponder Pua’s lineage and that’s the story I want to share here. This tale starts with a remarkable HMS, RS00 Ewa Girl. Ewa Girl’s story is an amazing one. She was born on Midway Atoll in 1992 and on her own made it down the Hawaiian Archipelago over the years. She was known to have had nine pups in the Main Hawaiian Islands including one on Niihau, one on the Big Island and the rest on Oahu. I refer you to the following link to learn more about this unique seal.

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/rs00-seal-who-journeyed-across-archipelago

On Oahu, Ewa Girl gave birth to five pups on Rabbit Island and two pups near the Reef Runway. Ewa Girl gave birth to RB12 Sadie on Rabbit Island on April 10, 2007. Sadie was also a seal who spent much of her juvenile-to adult life not being reported. Then in 2013 she showed up pregnant and had her first pup (that we know of), RN04 Kainoa (male), on Rabbit Island. Kainoa is reported sporadically on Oahu. The following year on April 3, 2014, Sadie gave birth to RF34 Pua (female). Subsequently Sadie gave birth to RG06 Cass (female) in 2015, (who died following surgery for an intestinal blockage), RH76 Kala (female) in 2016, RJ06 Aka (male) in 2017, RK37 Huia (female) in 2018, and, RL47 Kamakana (male) in 2019. We believe Sadie is pregnant again this year and we will be looking for her to pup on Rabbit Island sometime in late May or early June.

So now, almost 6-year old RF34 Pua has given birth to her first (that we know of) pup on Rabbit Island. This represents a third generation born on Rabbit Island, and a fourth generation from the amazing Ewa Girl. PO1 is a great grandchild of Ewa Girl.

When the NOAA team went to Rabbit Island on March 5, 2020, they actually had two of Sadie’s three daughters on the island. Besides the new Mom RF34 Pua (and her pup P01), RH76 Kala was there. The NOAA Team also found RK38 Hali’a/Lauloa (and successfully dehooked her) and RG32, a male born on Molokai who spends much of his time on the island.

I need to acknowledge the contributions of my late husband, DB Dunlap, who provided NOAA with almost daily sightings of the HMS on Rabbit Island from 2003 until his death in 2017. We would not know nearly as much as we do about the Rabbit Island seals without his efforts.

This story gives me hope for the Hawaiian Monk Seals in the Main Hawaiian Islands in spite of the threats they face. It also emphasizes the impact one female seal can make on the HMS population. We thank NOAA for their interventions along the way (starting with twice having to remove hooks from Ewal Girl) that have assisted in preserving this lineage. The wanderlust that led Ewa Girl to travel from Midway to the Big Island of Hawaii has had a major impact on the seal population in the Main Hawaiian Islands. May the females of this line continue to go forth and prosper.

Great Grandma Ewa Girl