Endangered Hawaiian Monk Seals at Ka'ena Point

This spot is home to one of the rarest seal species in the world! The Hawaiian Monk Seal! Unfortunately, this seal species is incredibly endangered with roughly 1,400 left in the world. A few fun facts about them: 🦭They are only found in Hawaii (cold water is not for them) 🦭They mostly travel solo 🦭And they were named monk seals because their skin looks like a monks cowl It’s incredibly rare to see these precious friends but I was lucky enough to see four of them on my adventures around this area! While hiking out to this spot everyone I passed kept saying “there’s a seal out at the point!” And I thought “cool but I’ve already seen two” but kept hustling out there to see the third and along the way I learned how rare it was to see any at all. The entire area at this point of Oahu is fenced off to protect so many different parts of nature, including giving these seals a nice resting spot between searching for meals and hopping islands. More of them are slowly migrating here from other smaller islands which means they are interacting with humans more and more and that could potentially lead to even lower numbers of them left on earth. As a friendly reminder, it is never ok to mess with wildlife in anyway. Keep your distance and respect that you are in their space, not the other way around. To learn more about these seals visit oceanconservancy.org To learn more about the Ka’ena Point Natural Area Reserve visit dlnr.hawaii.gov/ecosystems/nars/oahu/kaena/ Have you ever heard of Monk seals? • • • • • •