Hau`oli La Hanau Ho`ailona

The friendly Hawaiian monk seal known as KP2, later named Ho`ailona, that frequented Molokai waters and made many friends is turning three years old this May. He is currently lives at the University of California – Santa Cruz, where he is contributing to ground-breaking research on his species to help biologists better understand monk seal behavior.

,” he explained. “Hawaiian monk seals could be extinct in 10-20 years.”

While Ho`ailona was an inspiration for the new facility, Oswald said cases like Molokai’s seal that require long-term captivity will probably not be housed there.