Honey Girl - March 4, 2015

Honey Girl is a mom again, and volunteers are being extra vigilant as they watch over the Hawaiian monk seal and her adorable newborn, the first pup born in the main Hawaiian Islands this year.

The birth occurred on the beach there Wednesday afternoon, February 25, 2015. So far the sex of the pup is unknown but it is extremely active so must be a male.

This is the ninth pup for Honey Girl, also known by scientists as R5AY. She was tagged in 2002 on Kauai, and experts estimate her age at 17 years.

Honey Girl nearly died 21⁄2 years ago after a fishing hook lodged in her mouth. She was taken to Honolulu Zoo for emergency surgery and eventually released back into the wild. The Hawaiian monk seal is critically endangered, numbering less than 1,100 and declining in population size 3 percent per year.

Only 1 in 5 seals born in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands — where about 85 percent of the animals live — survive until its first birthday. By contrast, the population of seals born in the main Hawaiian Islands has been growing about 5 percent annually.