Hawaii
Plans underway to move monk seal pup born at Kaimana Beach
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials said they would move the monk seal pup born at Kaimana Beach now that she is fully weaned to a secluded beach on Oahu.
The female pup named Pa‘aki, also known as PO5, was born on May 1 at Oahu’s Kaimana Beach, a crowded spot at the edge of Waikiki. This was the fifth time a monk seal had given birth at the popular beach since 2017.
Following her birth, nonprofits and federal, state and county agencies worked together to rope off most of the beach and monitor the monk seal pair.
On Sunday, Hawaii Marine Animal Response, who partners with NOAA, reported that mother seal Kaiwi, also known as RK96, separated from Pa‘aki. Kaiwi may return to Kaimana Beach, but the mother and pup are now both independent seals, according to a NOAA news release.
Kaiwi and Pa‘aki when she was only one-day old. The third seal is Wawamalu, who was born in 2018 along the Kaiwi coastline and is Kaiwi’s son. (Photo courtesy of DLNR)
Monk seal mothers nurse their pups for five to seven weeks before abruptly leaving. While nursing, a monk seal mom does not forage for food and instead fasts until she uses up all of her energy, which is why the mom must leave to find food after weaning. The independent pup then must survive on its own.
NOAA officials decided to relocate the pup because they are concerned she will become habituated to humans, which would limit her ability to learn how to be a wild monk seal.
“We will be relocating Pa‘aki to a more remote Oahu shoreline, as we’ve done with previous Waikiki-born pups,” NOAA said in a news release.
For the safety of the pup, the new beach will remain undisclosed.
Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.
Hawaii
Hawaii County Surf Forecast for March 04, 2026 | Big Island Now
Forecast for Big Island Windward and Southeast
| Shores | Tonight | Wednesday | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surf | Surf | |||
| PM | AM | AM | PM | |
| North Facing | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 |
| East Facing | 3-5 | 4-6 | 4-6 | 5-7 |
| South Facing | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 |
| Weather | Mostly cloudy. Numerous showers. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Temperature | In the upper 60s. | ||||||
| Winds | East winds 5 to 10 mph. | ||||||
|
|||||||
| Weather | Partly sunny. Numerous showers. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Temperature | In the upper 70s. | |||||
| Winds | East winds 10 to 15 mph. | |||||
|
||||||
| Sunrise | 6:37 AM HST. | |||||
| Sunset | 6:27 PM HST. | |||||
Forecast for Big Island Leeward
| Shores | Tonight | Wednesday | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surf | Surf | |||
| PM | AM | AM | PM | |
| West Facing | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 1-3 |
| South Facing | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 |
| Weather | Mostly sunny until 6 PM, then mostly cloudy. Hazy. |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Temperature | In the upper 60s. | ||||||||||
| Winds | West winds around 5 mph early in the afternoon, becoming light and variable. |
||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Weather | Partly sunny. Hazy. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Temperature | In the mid 80s. | ||||||||
| Winds | Light and variable winds, becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon. |
||||||||
|
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| Sunrise | 6:41 AM HST. | ||||||||
| Sunset | 6:31 PM HST. | ||||||||
The current moderate northwest swell will continue a gradual decline through Thursday. A small west-northwest swell will arrive on Friday and hold through the weekend, followed by a small north-northwest swell early next week. Choppy east shore surf will build to near seasonal average by Wednesday as trade winds strengthen over and east of the islands. Little change is expected along east facing shores through the weekend, followed by a possible decline early next week if winds veer southerly. Surf along south facing shores will remain small to tiny through the weekend, and some islands may an increase in choppy surf if southerly winds develop early next week.
NORTH EAST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Semi choppy with ESE winds 5-10mph in the morning increasing to 10-15mph in the afternoon.
NORTH WEST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Clean in the early morning with ESE winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions move in during the morning hours with the winds shifting W 5-10mph.
WEST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Semi glassy in the morning with N winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting WNW 5-10mph.
SOUTH EAST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Light sideshore texture in the morning with NE winds 10-15mph. This becomes Sideshore texture/chop for the afternoon.
Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov and SwellInfo.com
Hawaii
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