Mother Nature and a proud mother are providing us with a rare treat.
A Hawaiian monk seal has given birth on a secluded beach on Oahu's NorthShore.
The pup is about a week old --- no word yet on its sex.
Pups have been born on RabbitIsland for the last three years but this is the first seal born on Oahu since 1998.
"Their pups are always pretty active --- they'll try to go down to the water and come back on the shore ---they're definitely moving around most of the time," says Erin Moreland, monk seal sighting coordinator.
"Baby is not out of the woods yet."
Marine mammal response coordinator, David Schofield says, "the monk seals are in a crisis situation as far as their population is concerned so to have a pup born here on Oahu is quite a treat."
There are an estimated 60 monks seals in the main Hawaiian Islands and only twelve-to-thirteen-hundred in the entire chain, including the northwestern Hawaiians islands.
It is certainly one of the most endangered species in the world.
We've agreed not to disclose the location of the beach in order for the animals to have a successful rearing period --- which usually lasts six weeks.
Volunteers from HawaiiPacificUniversity and the community are helping scientists monitor the mom and pup from sun up to sundown.
