COURTESY PHOTO BY WENDY MCILROY / NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
Marine mammal experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are trying to save the life of a baby monk seal that was abandoned by its mother on Kauai.
Orphan seal pup found
A team of marine experts is working to save a newborn Hawaiian monk seal abandoned by its mother on Kauai.
"We've never dealt with a seal this young before and are guardedly optimistic," said Charles Littnan of the Monk Seal Research Program in a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration news release. "The animal will be stressed and susceptible to disease so strict quarantine measures will be observed."
WENDY MCILROY / NOAA
A female monk seal barked at the newborn pup she abandoned friday on a north shore beach on kauai. scientists are nursing the pup at a facility on oahu.
The male pup, believed to be about three days old, was flown yesterday from Kauai to the NOAA Fisheries Kewalo Research Facility on Oahu on a Coast Guard C-130.
A bystander found the animal in a remote area of Kauai's north shore and reported it Friday morning.
A NOAA team went to Kauai and experts tried to reintroduce the pup to its mother, but the female monk seal barked at it and displayed aggressive behavior. She appeared more interested in an adult male seal, said NOAA spokeswoman Wende Goo.
The mother had abandoned another pup at the same location on Kauai last year, Goo said. By the time that pup was found, it was suffering and had to be euthanized, she said.
The Hawaiian monk seal is considered an endangered species with a population estimated at fewer than 1,200.
NOAA is working with the Marine Mammal Center to help save the newborn. In 2006, the two organizations cared for malnourished twin monk seals, which were eventually returned to Midway Atoll.