Waikīkī pup Paʻaki enters new phase of life on secret shoreline, far away from humans

NOAA Fisheries and partners have relocated the female Hawaiian monk seal pup Paʻaki from busy Kaimana Beach, Waikīkī, to a more remote Oʻahu shoreline, the agency announced on Thursday.

Mother seal RK96 (Kaiwi) weaned Paʻaki on June 9, after nursing and caring for the pup since May 1.

The new location will allow Paʻaki to grow up wild, offering more frequent opportunities to engage with other seals than with people. This is important for the young pup’s development, according to NOAA Fisheries.

Paʻaki was collected the Wednesday evening with on-the-beach support from Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaiʻi Marine Animal Response (HMAR), and NOAA Office of Law Enforcement.

She was then transported to NOAA facilities for an overnight stay in a large enclosure built for monk seals. On Thursday morning, the team applied flipper tags and a temporary satellite tag to monitor Paʻaki as the pup explores her new home. Her permanent NOAA Fisheries ID is RT96.

The pup also received a vaccination to protect against morbillivirus, or phocine distemper. Lastly, the team collected biomedical samples as part of a population health monitoring effort for the species.

The next stop for Paʻaki was the new beach. Once released, Paʻaki headed for the water.

NOAA Fisheries will track the pup’s movement patterns for several weeks to months using the satellite tag. HMAR and partners will also help monitor the pup. Together, the partners will share updates to the community, through various media channels, on how Paʻaki is settling in.

To minimize stressors to monk seals, NOAA Fisheries generally does not publicly disclose their real-time locations. In keeping with this policy, it is not sharing the relocation site for Paʻaki at this time.

Hawaiian monk seals are endemic to Hawaiʻi, not found anywhere else in the world and are currently listed as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the International Union for Conservation Nature (IUCN).