(BIVN) – A five-month-old female Hawaiian monk seal named Keaka has been visiting Honokōhau Harbor in Kona recently, prompting state officials to warn the public about their interactions with the protected species.

Keaka has already been hooked by fishing line twice this month. Staff from Ke Kai Ola, the Marine Mammal Center’s monk seal hospital and conservation program, successfully removed a hook from the right side of her mouth in early November. Keaka then got hooked a second time by eating a live akule that was used as bait by a fisherman.

Since then, the DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), the DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR), and The Marine Mammal Center have been conducting outreach at the harbor, posting signs and speaking to boaters and fishers.

From a Hawaiʻi DLNR news release:

Keaka is attracted to schools of akule fish, referred to as “bait balls.” The fish float near the surface where fishers gather along the rocky shoreline. The young seal has been feeding on the bait balls.

“She likes to interact with people who are taking pictures of her, and we have been getting reports that she’s being fed, either by coming in and eating the scraps that people are dumping off their boats or by some of the akule fishermen who are throwing her fish,” said Tyler Jeschke, a monitoring technician with DAR.

These interactions are especially concerning for Keaka’s health and development. If they continue, the pup will likely become conditioned to seek out people, negatively affecting her ability to grow and mature as a wild seal. Reasons like this are why it is illegal to feed Hawaiian monk seals.

photo of the sign posted at Honokōhau Harbor courtesy Hawaiʻi DLNR

Jeschke is one of the people making frequent trips to talk to and inform fishers. “We’re just making sure that especially with all the boat traffic and the fishermen that she’s staying safe, and people are acting accordingly because of her presence,” Jeschke said.

“Due to the bait ball, Keaka is likely to stick around for a while,” explained Jeannine Rossa, acting protected species program lead for DAR. Rossa and others working to protect Keaka are working with DOBOR to provide bags for scraps to put into harbor dumpsters rather than dumping them in the water.

“We’re in this for the long run as this seal is likely to stick around well into the new year and certainly for as long as there’s plentiful food for her to snag,” Rossa said. “We hope people will be mindful not to feed her and to slow down and watch for her when entering or exiting the harbor. If we can get everyone to not feed her and to not toss scraps into the water, we hope she leaves on her own.”

Hawaiian monk seals are protected by both federal and state laws. Female seals like Keaka are extremely important to building the population of this critically endangered species, officials say.