Petunia (RZ20): The First Modern Oʻahu Monk Seal Pup, Moved to Kure Atoll to Thrive

RZ20, Petunia, on Kure Atoll. NOAA Fisheries.

A lucky start

Petunia, NOAA Fisheries' monk seal of the month for April, was born on Oʻahu's North Shore on the Ides of March, 1991, the first monk seal born on the island in modern times. Soon after, floods from a heavy storm washed her out to sea, but the round-the-clock watch on this notable pup meant rescuers could reunite her with her mother.

She nursed for 46 days and weaned at an enormous 220 pounds (100 kg), with a girth of 50 inches just behind her fore flippers, where pups typically wean at 110–175 pounds. Of more than 400 newly weaned pups ever weighed, only three were heavier: a sign of her mother's good health.

Why she was moved

In 1991 monk seals were rare in the main Hawaiian Islands; Petunia and her mother were the only two seen on Oʻahu that year. Healthy as she was, experts feared she would not survive alone on an Oʻahu beach, among people and dogs.

At the time, the Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program was working to rebuild the small population, about 75 seals, at Kure Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Harassment by dogs and people at a small U.S. Coast Guard station there had driven the colony down, until dogs were banned and beach access restricted and the seals recovered. Ironically, Kure had become a refuge from exactly the threats Petunia faced on Oʻahu.

So, soon after weaning, she was taken to Sea Life Park on Oʻahu, and the U.S. Coast Guard flew her 1,400 miles to Kure, where she was held briefly in a shore pen to settle in before release.

The U.S. Coast Guard flew Petunia to Kure. NOAA Fisheries.

Petunia in a shore pen, getting used to her new home. NOAA Fisheries.

A long life at Kure

Thanks to her strong start, Petunia stayed larger than other seals her age for most of her life. She traveled at least as far as Midway Atoll, about 60 miles away, in 1999, 2005 and 2011, but Kure was her home for 24 years.

Proof that translocation works

In 1990, the year before she was born, five healthy weaned pups from French Frigate Shoals had also been moved to Kure, where there was more food and less competition. Those early moves, and Petunia's, showed clearly that pups moved after weaning stay at their new site, and translocation became an important tool for conserving monk seals.

Sources

• NOAA Fisheries, "The First Oʻahu Pup Who Blossomed on Kure Atoll"; rewritten in hubnx's own words. Photographs: NOAA Fisheries. Uncredited later photographs are not reproduced here.