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The Hawaiian Monk Seal is a water mammal that has special adaptations to survive in the water. Most monk seals are torpedo-shaped to cut through the water and for fast swimming. They are usually a grey or brown color and have flippers to swim. The seal usually weighs about 300-400 pounds as a full-grown adult.
Hawaiian monk seal females grow slightly longer, and are heavier, than males. The long, fusiform body is robust, with relatively short fore- and hind flippers. The relatively small head is wide and somewhat flat, and the eyes are spaced fairly wide apart. The muzzle is also wide, U-shaped, and somewhat flattened. The mystacial pads are large and fleshy, extending beyond the nostrils. The nostrils are in a sub-terminal position, angled up, rather than in a terminal position facing forward, as is typical of most northern hemisphere phocids.
The monk seal has thick skin to keep them heated during their time at sea. The males are different from the females in their physical appearance. Young seals and adult seals are different in size and maturity as a young seal starts at a length of about 1 m (3.4 ft.) long at birth and adults are about 7 to 7.5 feet fully grown.
Hawaiian monk seals have an epidermal molt, as is the case in both elephant seals and the Mediterranean monk seal where the skin with attached fur peels off in large patches. The seals can look very irregular at this time, showing areas of faded dark fur, clean lighter new fur, and patches of dried skin peeling off. Just after the annual molt, most females and subadults are silvery to slate-gray above, fading to cream or light silver-gray below.
Hawaiian monk seals can hold their breath for up to 20 minutes and dive more than 550 m (1,800 ft); however, they usually dive an average of 6 minutes to depths of less than 60 m (200 ft) to forage at the seafloor. They have a superb vision to be able to hunt their prey for feeding.
References
Species description - Hawaiian monk seal. Google Sites: Sign-in. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://sites.google.com/site/hawaiianmonkseal0/species-description
Hawaiian monk seal. Hawaiian Monk Seal - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/hawaiian-monk-seal
Feeding habits - hawaiin monk seal RL2014. Google Sites: Sign-in. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://sites.google.com/site/hawaiinmonksealrl2014/feeding-habits
Hawaiian monk seal. Hawaiian Monk Seal - Facts, Diet, Habitat & Pictures on Animalia.bio. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://animalia.bio/hawaiian-monk-seal
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