HONOLULU -- Beachgoers were forced to keep their distance at Diamond Head Beach on Tuesday because of relatively frequent visitor.

The visitor is a Hawaiian monk seal. The female seal is more than 6-feet long.

The seal is a familiar visitor to the area, according to a volunteer who tracks the endangered seals for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hawaiian Marine Fisheries Division.

"Many of the viewers will have seen her at Sandy Beach on a regular basis. She mostly hangs out in that quadrant," NOAA volunteer D.B. Dunlap said.

The seal is likely heading back to Sandy Beach after weaning a pup near Kaena Point over the summer, Dunlap said.

Hawaiian monk seals are extremely endangered, with only about 1,200 of them in the world.