The Sacramento Bee: Rare sea creature rescued in Hawaii, officials say. ‘Ready to reclaim his place’

Published in The Sacramento Bee: November 26, 2024

An endangered sea creature in Hawaii that was rescued and rehabilitated got a lift from the U.S. Coast Guard and now is back home. The young Hawaiian monk seal was “released back into his natural habitat on Kauai, ready to reclaim his place in the wild,” the U.S. Coast Guard Hawaii Pacific wrote in a Facebook post on Nov. 25. The Coast Guard helped transport the 2-year-old seal, known as R8HA, after a roughly four-month stay at The Marine Mammal Center’s seal monk hospital on the island of Hawaii.

…the seal required round-the-clock care from veterinary experts.

The seal was rescued in June after officials keeping tabs on him in the wild noticed that his health was quickly deteriorating, The Marine Mammal Center wrote in a news release.

He was “very emaciated and lethargic,” and during his initial care at a holding facility, he “suffered a hypoglycemic crash and required round the clock care from veterinary experts,” the center said.

The seal later was admitted to the hospital, and “he was in critical condition and was treated with IV fluids, medicine, and (was) tube fed a fish mash until he was strong enough to eat fish independently,” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries in the Pacific Islands wrote on its website. The seal was tested for various diseases, all of which came back negative, the agency said. “After more than doubling his weight, R8HA was ready for transport by the U.S. Coast Guard back to Kauaʻi for release,” NOAA Fisheries said. Hawaiian monk seals are native to Hawaii, and they’re among the most endangered seals in the world, NOAA Fisheries said. Only about 1,600 exist, it said.

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