Hawaiʻi · 2001—2026
Hawaiian monk seal
Seals around Hawaiʻi.
Follow public seal observations from Hawaiʻi. Browse published records, explore the places and stories behind them, or share an encounter with the Seal Watch team.
- Total reports
- 93
- Latest observation
Public reports · newest first
Public records archive
24 August 2001—15 June 2026
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34 of 93 reports
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Explore Hawaiʻi sightings
All areasIsland markers filter reports. Place markers show named shores or offshore islands from published records, never exact animal positions. Counts are reports, not seals.
75 of 93 reports name a mapped island · 32 have a named shore or island reference
Main Hawaiian Islands same scale
Kauaʻi coast enlarged
Oʻahu coast enlarged
Reported islands west to east
Named shores and islands
- Miloliʻi2 reports
- Poʻipū Beach2 reports
- Kaʻena Point1 report
- Camp Erdman shoreline1 report
- Pōkaʻī Bay2 reports
- Kahe Point5 reports
- Paradise Cove2 reports
- Three Tables Beach1 report
- White Plains Beach5 reports
- Waikīkī shoreline1 report
- Kaimana Beach2 reports
- Baby Makapuʻu tide pools1 report
- Mānana (Rabbit Island)6 reports
- Lahaina shoreline1 report
Other reported areas
These records give only a state or county area. Their shoreline remains unspecified.
Outline: Natural Earth. Place references: USGS, State of Hawaiʻi, NOAA and University of Hawaiʻi.
Reports over time
Select a year, then a month. Counts describe published reports; one animal may appear in several reports.
Grouped by each record’s archive date. Approximate dates keep their original labels in the records below.
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Date: 2026Reported: RV28 (formerly PK1) Kauaʻi HMS Conservation Hui
Observation: RL28 weaned her male pup after 40 days of nursing. The pup, initially PK1, was subsequently tagged as RV28.
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Date: 2026Reported: R1NP Kauaʻi HMS Conservation Hui
Observation: A yearling male seen regularly between Waipouli and Lydgate was flipper-tagged as R1NP. The team described him as small but strong and healthy.
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Date: 2026Reported: RL28 and pup PK1 (later RV28) Kauaʻi HMS Conservation Hui
Observation: RL28 gave birth to her first pup, a male initially called PK1. The monitoring team later assigned the pup the permanent ID RV28.
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Date: 2026Reported: Unidentified E bailey / Wikimedia Commons
Observation: A Hawaiian monk seal was photographed resting on the beach.
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Date:Reported: Male pup PK6 (later identified as RL40) Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: A male pup later identified as RL40 was born on this date. A later field report attributes him to R400; this observation does not count the mother because the initial birth documentation shows the pup.
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Date:Reported: Pup PK3, later identified as RL30 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: A pup later identified as RL30 was reported on the remote Nā Pali coast. The initial report did not positively identify its mother.
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Date:Reported: Male pup later identified as RL08 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: Kauaʻi Seals reported the start of the 2019 pupping season on this date. The summary does not identify the mother; later reports identify a 2019 pup as RL08.
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Date:Reported: RH58 and male pup later identified as RK58 Marine Mammal Center
Observation: RH58 gave birth to a male pup later identified as RK58.
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Date:Reported: RO28 and pup PK4 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RO28 gave birth to pup PK4.
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Date:Reported: RK28 and pup PK3 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RK28 gave birth to pup PK3.
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Date:Reported: RK30 and male pup PK2 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RK30 gave birth to male pup PK2.
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Date:Reported: RK22 and male pup PK1 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RK22 gave birth to male pup PK1.
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Date:Reported: RH58 and male pup Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RH58 was found with a male pup; the pup had arrived the previous day and was found on Monday morning.
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Date:Reported: RO28 and male pup RG28 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RO28 gave birth to a male pup later identified as RG28.
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Date:Reported: RK28 and pup Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RK28 gave birth to a pup.
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Date:Reported: RH58 and female pup RF58 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RH58 gave birth to a female pup later identified as RF58.
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Date:Reported: RK30 and pup Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RK30 gave birth to a pup.
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Date:Reported: RO28 and pup Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RO28 gave birth to a pup.
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Date:Reported: RK22 and pup Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RK22 gave birth to a pup.
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Date:Reported: RH58 and male pup RN44 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RH58 gave birth to a male pup later identified as RN44.
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Date:Reported: RO28 and male pup RN30 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RO28 gave birth to a male pup later identified as RN30.
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Date:Reported: RK22 and male pup later identified as RL14 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RK22 gave birth to a male pup later identified as RL14.
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Date:Reported: RK13 and female pup later identified as RL10 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RK13 gave birth to a female pup later identified as RL10 near Aliomanu and Anahola.
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Date:Reported: RA36 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RA36 was documented during a field encounter. The source's incident narrative is retained without inferring an additional animal.
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Date:Reported: RK30 and pup RK56 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RK30 gave birth to a pup later identified as RK56.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified male pup; mother suspected to be RK30 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: An untagged male pup was observed at Miloliʻi. The source only suspects RK30 as the mother; that attribution is not treated as confirmed.
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Date:Reported: RK12 and pup later identified as RA36 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RK12 was observed with her newborn pup, later identified as RA36.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified pregnant Hawaiian monk seal Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Observation: A pregnant Hawaiian monk seal was seen at remote Pilaa Beach and was shot and killed. The source describes the encounter and death; no individual tag is given.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Hawaiian monk seal Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Observation: Surfers found the body of a Hawaiian monk seal in the ocean at Kaumakani Beach. The source reports that it had been shot dead.
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Date:Reported: KP2 (Hō‘ailona) Waikīkī Aquarium
Observation: KP2 was born on Kauaʻi. The record describes the wild birth, not later rescue or transfer events.
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Date:Reported: RH58 and female pup later identified as RB00 Kauaʻi Seals field account
Observation: RH58 gave birth to a female pup, later identified as RB00.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Robert Corrington / The Monachus Guardian letter, June 2007
Observation: A firsthand observer reported five Hawaiian monk seals playing and feeding offshore around 8 a.m., then hauling out at Brenneke Beach. Three remained on the beach twelve hours later. This is one group encounter, with no individual identities inferred.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 26 March 2002
Observation: A dead monk seal pup was found floating off the resort beachfront. The original report says it apparently was stillborn, but the cause was under investigation and the mother was not identified. This is a carcass finding, not a live sighting or a second birth claim.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified female and pup Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Observation: A mother and pup were photographed at Poʻipū. The newspaper caption identifies the photograph as taken Friday; the article dated Monday 27 August establishes Friday as 24 August.