HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Rocky the monk seal\u2019s 16th pup, PO11, will soon begin its own journey as an independent seal.<\/p>\n
The pup was born nearly five weeks ago at the popular Nimitiz Beach at Kalaeloa, an area rarely used for birthing and nursing seal pups.<\/p>\n
Now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries is preparing to move the pup to a remote Oahu beach near other wild seals after Rocky departs to replenish her reserves, and PO11 will be an independent seal on its own.<\/p>\n
However, it hasn\u2019t been smooth sailing for Rocky and her pup at the popular West Oahu beach. <\/p>\n
Volunteers claim beer bottles and other containers were thrown at the pair. Evening Barbecues and loud trucks are also a cause for concern, along with off-leash dogs and interactions with marine debris and fishing gear.<\/p>\n
Learn more: Volunteers say more protections are needed for Rocky and her monk seal pup at Kalaeloa beach<\/a><\/p>\n During the Fourth of July weekend, volunteers spent the holiday weekend protecting Rocky and PO11<\/a> at the beach from large gatherings and fireworks.<\/p>\n NOAA Fisheries said moving the pup after she is weaned will help her learn to interact with the wild away from humans.<\/p>\n PO11 will be moved shortly after they confirm Rocky officially weaned the pup. The exact timing or location won\u2019t be shared to keep the process as smooth and stress-free as possible, officials said.<\/p>\n After the pup is collected, NOAA will give a quick health check and flipper identification tags before release.<\/p>\n The tags will help response networks monitor the seal\u2019s well-being and growth from a distance as it adjusts to its new surroundings.<\/p>\n Last month, NOAA completed a similar relocation process with another pup, \u2018\u0100nela \u2018Auinal\u0101, RV96<\/a>, who was born in May.<\/p>\n As Rocky and PO11 end the nursing period, NOAA said the public can help keep them safe by:<\/p>\n Maintain a safe, respectful distance of at least 150 feet from mom and pup pairs<\/a>Keep dogs leashedChoose alternate swimming and fishing areas if seals are presentReport suspected marine wildlife harassment<\/a><\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Rocky the monk seal\u2019s 16th pup, PO11, will soon begin its own journey as an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":771248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-771247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}