Like nervous new parents, a team of scientists is monitoring everything that goes into and comes out of a fragile newborn monk seal abandoned at birth by its mother on Kaua'i.

They're watching over every feeding. Every breath. Every ounce of weight gained or lost.

It's the first time scientists and veterinarians have had a chance to care for such a young monk seal pup, one that hasn't been weaned by its mother. The biggest concern with the 32.5-pound, 4-day-old pup is its vulnerability to diseases.

"The fact that the mother abandoned her pup after a day is a cause for concern," said Charles Littnan, leader of the Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. "It's rare for a monk seal to abandon her pup."

The crew is watching the mammal at the Kewalo NOAA facility near Ala Moana Beach Park, where it is being fed by a tube and allowed to swim in tanks with 6 inches of water for exercise and to do its business, said David Schofield, NOAA Fisheries Marine Mammal Stranding coordinator.

The seal pup was found Friday in a remote area of Kaua'i's North Shore after NOAA had been told that a pup seal had been abandoned. When the team arrived, the pup was alone on the beach, trying to suckle on a rock. A male and female monk seal joined the pup, but attempts to reintroduce the pup to the female were unsuccessful. Officials determined the female was the same one that abandoned a pup in the same location last year; the pup died.

On Friday, the female tried to bite the pup when scientists left them alone together. The team decided the only chance for the monk seal pup's survival was to fly it to O'ahu on a Coast Guard C-130 airplane.

"It's safe to say that if the pup had stayed in the area, it would surely have died," Schofield said.

Gregg Levine, a veterinarian assisting with the monk seal pup, at first gave him a 50 percent chance of surviving. But the pup has maintained his weight for two days and pooped yesterday morning, another good sign.

"We celebrated," Levine said. "That's a big milestone. We're giving him two to three 15-minute periods to swim around during the heat of the day. And we're giving him lots of time to sleep."

Monk seals were placed on the endangered species list in 1976 and are considered one of the most endangered species in the world. There are 80 to 100 monk seals on the main Hawaiian Islands.

There are an estimated 1,100 monk seals on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. To be taken off the endangered species list, the population needs to increase to 2,900 and remain at that level for two decades.