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| Facts about Hawaiian monk seal |
- Their recovery has been very slow due to numerous problems including human disturbance on beaches, pollution, and fishing net entanglement. They are also subject to being preyed upon by tiger sharks and Galapagos sharks. Hawaiian monk seals forage near the seafloor and consume a wide variety of food depending on what is available.
- This can include small fish, squid, octopus, and crustaceans. Seals dive in order to hunt for their food and spend two-thirds of their time at sea. Most dives are around 200 ft (61 m) in depth. However, the seal has been recorded diving over 1800 ft (550 m) deep. Monk seals are solitary individuals that can live around 30 years.
- Males monk seals can reach around 7 ft (2.1 m) in length while females grow larger to around 8 ft (2.4 m). Females can weigh up to 600 lbs (270 kg). Female monk seals carry their babies for 10 to 11 months. At birth, a monk seal pup will already be over 3 ft (.9 m) in length. Male monk seal can be quite aggressive.
- They sometimes mob females in order to be the first one to mate. This can lead to injuries to the female. Monk seals usually haul out on land to give birth, molt, or rest. Molting takes place once every year. you saw a monk seal resting on a beach, do not disturb it. It is saving up energy so it can hunt again.
If the seal is constantly disturbed, it won’t have the proper amount of energy to feed, making it more vulnerable to predators. If there are a mother and her pup on the beach, and the mother is scared off, she may not come back for her pup. A monk seal mother will remain on land and fast, during the approximately one month period of nursing her pup. Then, the mother will abandon her up and return to the sea.