COURTESY NOAA, PACIFIC ISLANDS REGIONAL OFFICE
This 13-month-old female Hawaiian monk seal, which was becoming overly "friendly" with people, was relocated from the Big Island's North Kohala Coast to a less populated area on the Puna Coast to enhance her chances in the wild.
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Monk seal moves to more isolated digs
Federal crews remove the 13-month-old beast from a populated area
Wildlife officials have relocated an overly "friendly" young Hawaiian monk seal from the Big Island's North Kohala Coast to a less populated area on the Puna Coast.
The 13-month-old female was "becoming friendly with people, letting people pet her and swim with her," said David Schofield, marine mammal response coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific islands region.
Mammal medics
To report sightings of injured or entangled monk seals, or to volunteer as part of a monk seal recovery team, call toll-free (888) 256-9840.
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It is hoped the more remote location will allow the seal, dubbed "O-42" by scientists, "to have a second try at her childhood and learn to grow up as a monk seal, not a person," Schofield said yesterday.
The young seal "wasn't nipping (people) yet, but she was nipping at fish from spear-fishermen's belt stringers," Schofield said.
And some people were feeding the seal, which creates "a difficult situation," he said.
"People have to understand that even though the animal looks cute and cuddly, what they are doing is not good for the animal," Schofield said.
She is called "Papaikou" by some local residents after the area north of Hilo where she was born, Schofield said.
Wildlife officials already have moved her twice, because areas she chose were at mouths of polluted streams and were frequented by people, Schofield said.
COURTESY U.S. COAST GUARD
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration workers relocated a young monk seal Thursday night from the North Kohala Coast to a less populated area on the Big Island with the aid of crew members from the Coast Guard cutter Kiska.
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Since April, state and federal wildlife officials and Big Island volunteers have been watching the seal, which was frequenting the area near Mahukona County Beach Park. They finally concluded that she was just getting too involved with humans, Schofield said.
The seal was spotted Thursday "hauled out" on land in a location where she could be loaded into a cage. The team took O-42 by truck to Hilo, where a veterinarian gave her a health checkup, then loaded her onto the Coast Guard cutter Kiska and took her to a new home in the middle of the night, Schofield said.
The seal was in good health, although her body was "lanky," as if she was going through a growth spurt, he said.
Helping young female seals successfully make it through their first few years is a priority of NOAA's recovery plan for the endangered species, which has an estimated 1,200 individuals alive in the wild. Young females must survive to have offspring for the species to make it.