Adventures in Wonder(Field Biologist)Land: Big Fat Weaners and Pups!

I love puppies! Anyway...monk seal pups are usually born between February and late July, with the peak being late March through June. Pups have very soft, downy black fur, and are super cute! Females nurse their pups for about 5 weeks, going in and out of the shallow water with the pups, and not eating. Mothers usually leave their pup sometime at night, so when we walk the beach in the morning, we usually find a bawling pup calling to its mom. At that point we call them weaners! And they hang out on the beach and spend lots of time playing in the water with other juveniles/weaners or marine debris. Once they are weaned, we do our best to flipper tag them, so that we can get their length and girth as soon after their mother leaves, so we can assess how healthy and fit she was - as it correlates to the size of her pup. Also, the bigger the weaner, the greater its chance of survival, especially through the first year. The first year is the most difficult because the weaners are left to fend for themselves, and have to teach themselves how to feed/hunt! They are also very small compared to the other seals, and there are dangers such as sharks. But, the most pressing matter is starvation. So that is why we are de-worming the juveniles! We (meaning me, Gretchen, Derek, Monica, and Heather) were the first people in the world to EVER de-worm a wild monk seal! Hahaha!!! It is totally awesome, because we are being pro-active about trying to conserve this species, as its population seems to be steadily declining...we are attempting to intervene as least invasive as possible, so we are de-worming them to lessen the parasite burden (which can be excessive in young animals) by getting rid of the round worms and tapeworms that are stealing the little bit of food that they are actually getting, which will hopefully boost up survival. TaaaDaaa!! Keep your fingers crossed!

Pup 48 with a fresh pelage bleach, courtesy of me, later tagged at TA03: