Hawaiian Monk Seals
The Basic Facts
Hawaiian Monk Seals are also known as Monachus schauinslandi to biologists and other scientists and 'Ilioholoikauaua to the Hawaiians that saw them and named them "the dog that runs in rough waters." These animals, whatever you may call them, are thought to be descendents of dogs and bears that happened to start living by and in the water
They are mainly found in Hawaii on the coral reefs and atolls northwest of Kaua'i, but they are rarely found on the major Hawaiian Islands and even then have only been reported to be seen on Kaua'i, O'ahu, and Moloka'i. They are very solitary creatures and most, 90% of them, don't leave the vicinity of the island that they were born on.
This diagram points out some of their basic structures.
Monk seals usually start out at about 30 pounds at birth and about 3 feet in length and grow to be about 400-600 pounds and 7-8 feet in length. Not only that, unlike most species, the females are usually bigger than the males.
Monk seals also molt like shelled animals do, but for different reasons. They molt because their skin and fur take a lot of wear and tear and the molting allows them to replace the old beat up skin and fur. They shed their coats once a year usually between April and December. The whole process takes about 9-10 days and for that period of time, they stay on shore.