NOAA, the Waikiki Aquarium and Molokai Residents came together to send KP2 off the proper way, with a Hawaiian blessing.
Next week, the seal will travel to Santa Cruz, California for cataract surgery.
“His vision will be restored after the surgery but because of the way the surgery is done he won't be able to dive to deep depths,” said NOAA spokesperson David Schofield.
Schofield says that's not the only reason why KP2 can't return to the wild.
“He was holding people under water, he bit a few children,” said Schofield.
Because of this, NOAA decided to move KP2 from Molokai to Oahu in October.
KP2 has spent about a month at the Waikiki Aquarium. NOAA says that's was his future holds for him, a life in captivity but Moloka’i residents say he deserves to be free.
“He chose Molokai he should be on Molokai,” said Molokai resident Walter Ritte.
NOAA says KP2 will return to Oahu once a proper facility is built for him.
“What ever they can do on Oahu to keep him alive, we can do the same on Molokai,” said Ritte. “We got big fish ponds that he can be raised in, doesn't have to be in a little tank that goes around and around.”
NOAA says they are looking into oceaniariums and trying to find the best fit for the seal. The facility will also house other Hawaiian Monk Seals that cannot live in the wild like KP2.
They hope to have KP2 back in Hawaii within a year.
