09/04/2025
RKA0 – The Last Hawaiian Monk Seal Born on Maui 🦭🌺
In 2018, Maui welcomed RKA0 — the last Hawaiian monk seal pup born here. This rare moment shows RKA0 nursing, while mom rests with healed cookie cutter shark scars.
Meet RKA0, the last Hawaiian monk seal born on Maui in October 2018. In this moment, RKA0 is nursing from its mother — a critical stage where monk seal pups build strength and fat reserves for survival.
You’ll notice the large, round scars on mom’s side. These are partially healed bites from a cookie cutter shark, a small deep-sea predator that feeds by taking circular plugs of flesh from larger animals.
Hawaiian monk seals are one of the rarest marine mammals in the world, with fewer than 1,600 remaining. Every pup matters. After about 5–7 weeks, mothers wean their pups, leaving them to learn how to hunt and survive on their own.
Moments like this remind us how fragile and precious these lives are here in Hawaiʻi.
