Endangered Hawaiian monk seal gives birth on Waikiki beach
HONOLULU — An endangered Hawaiian monk seal has given birth on a Waikiki beach — the first such birth in at least several decades.
The seal was born late Wednesday or early Thursday, said Angela Amlin, co-ordinator for the Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Program.
Mother and pup attracted dozens of onlookers as they rolled around on the sand. Volunteers kept people at a safe distance behind a rope barrier.
The mother, known as RH58 and nicknamed Rocky, has lived on and around Oahu since 2002. But she would return to Kauai, where she was born 17 years ago, to give birth. This time she had her pup at Kaimana, an area in Waikiki popular with Honolulu residents.