The Odyssey of KP2

April 2, 2012
In this sensitive, enjoyable book, Williams, a wildlife biologist and director of the Marine Mammal Physiology Program at UC–Santa Cruz, shares her personal journey with Kauai Pup 2 (KP2), a friendly Hawaiian monk seal abandoned at birth by his mother. Human intervention helps restore him, but consequently produces an animal that is neither wild nor tame. As Williams writes, “his months in rehabilitation with humans and release among seals had shaped him into a creature that had no home.” Unable to adapt to living in the wild and deemed “expendable” in terms of the “reproductive viability” of this endangered species, KP2 is flown to Williams’s marine mammal lab in Santa Cruz, Calif., for research purposes. There, Williams and her team face numerous difficulties, including securing safe transport for KP2, finding funding to support him in his necessary environment, fielding the tirades of the press, and trying to figure out the safest way to return him to Hawaii. Williams carefully blends scientific record-keeping with engaging storytelling and personal reflections. Agent: Noah Lukeman, Lukeman Literary Management.

June 1, 2012
A true tale of an orphaned Hawaiian monk seal and the humans who rescued him. Abandoned almost at birth by his mother, KP2 would have certainly died without human intervention. Because Hawaiian monk seals are one of the most endangered marine mammal species in the United States, researchers were unable to let nature take its course. In this informative book, renowned marine biologist Williams, who directs the Marine Mammal Physiology Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, chronicles the seal's rescue and first years of life. "From the moment of his birth," writes the author, "he changed how many of us view our lives on this fragile planet." After several months of care, KP2 was released into the warm waters of Hawaii. However, frequent sightings and close encounters with the seal on the shoreline made it apparent that KP2 craved human contact over that of his fellow seals. So he was returned to human custody. Scientists soon discovered the pup had developed severe cataracts over his eyes due to a lack of vital nutrients at birth. He was flown to Williams' lab in California for treatment. Williams and her team of researchers began an intense study of the young male, and they collected important data on KP2's growth rates, feeding habits and sociability, with the "survival of [the] entire species" resting on his shoulders. A moving, action-packed account of KP2's rise to fame, his humorous antics while at the lab and the political and social battles that ensued by moving the seal away from his native Hawaiian waters.

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February 1, 2012

Hawaiian monk seals are the most endangered marine mammal in U.S. waters, with only 1100 remaining. So when a newborn pup was abandoned by his mother on a Kauai beach, he was brought to the marine lab in Santa Cruz, CA, despite resistance from the local community. Studying Kauai Pup 2 (KP2) to learn more about his species, wildlife biologist Williams also fell in love with his fun-loving spirit. Animal-human bonding, ecology, and the cutest face on the cover (not the author's).

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2012
Hawaiian monk seal KP2 was born on the island of Kauai to an abusive mother who attacked and then abandoned him. Rescued and taught to eat at a rehabilitation facility, the young seal thrived and grewwith one problem: his eyes were clouding over, and KP2 was going blind. As a member of one of the most endangered species in the world, KP2 could not be left to fend for himself in the wild, for which his early exposure to humans had made him too tame. Transfer to wildlife biologist Williams' Marine Mammal Physiology Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, was arranged over the protests of KP2's many fans (he was already a YouTube sensation), who wanted him to stay in Hawaii. In a charming blend of science and animal memoir, Williams tells KP2's talehis checkered past, the wrangling between the federal government and the Hawaiian locals who loved him and between the same government officials and Williams, and her inevitable time in the media spotlight.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)