Monk Seals Released at Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll), March 2023
NOAA Fisheries and partners return three rehabilitated Hawaiian monk seals to their home in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument March 22–25, 2023.
Three juvenile Hawaiian monk seals were struggling with malnourishment at Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll). NOAA Fisheries and partners at The Marine Mammal Center, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service coordinated the seals’ rescue, rehabilitation, and return to the wild.
Hawaiian monk seals WQ08 (Ikaika) (left) and DQ10 (Lelehua) (right) rest in a rehabilitation pool pen at Ke Kai Ola, The...
Hawaiian monk seals DQ10 (Lelehua) (front), WQ08 (Ikaika) (middle), PP32 (Alena) (back) rest in a rehabilitation pool pe...
(March 22, 2023) Loading supplies onto the U.S. Coast Guard cargo plane for the monk seal translocation to Kuaihelani (M...
(March 22, 2023) NOAA Fisheries and Ke Kai Ola staff prepare seal passengers for boarding in Kailua-Kona onto the U.S. C...
(March 22, 2023) Members of the U.S. Coast Guard carefully transfer the precious cargo from the plane after landing at K...
(March 23, 2023) NOAA Fisheries Veterinary Technician Claudia Cedillo uses zip ties to further secure the fence panels. ...
(March 23, 2023) NOAA Fisheries, Ke Kai Ola, and USFWS team members continue to secure the beach pen panels for the monk...
(March 23, 2023) Rehabilitated juvenile monk seals PP32 (Alena), DQ10 (Lelehua), and WQ08 (Ikaika) acclimate to their ne...
(March 24, 2023) The three rehabilitated juvenile monk seals play in a trough of water on day two of their acclimation p...
(March 25, 2023) USFWS Biologist Tammy Summers (left) and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument Deputy Superintende...
(March 25, 2023) Amanda Boyd, USFWS deputy superintendent for Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, removes bungee...
(March 25, 2023) Satellite tags allow NOAA Fisheries to track each of the three rehabilitated monk seals’ locations remo...
(March 25, 2023) Rehabilitated Hawaiian monk seal eases out of the beach pen and into the wild at Kuaihelani (Midway Ato...
(March 25, 2023) The rehabilitated juvenile monk seals casually make their way from the beach pen towards the water. Cre...
(March 25, 2023) A rehabilitated juvenile monk seal wades in the surf at Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll). Credit: USFWS/Andy S...
(March 25, 2023) The rehabilitated juvenile monk seals swim in waters at Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll) shortly after their r...
Close