Media Watch, The Garden Island, 13 May 2010
LIHU‘E — A critically endangered juvenile female Hawaiian monk seal was found dead at Glass Beach near ‘Ele‘ele and Port Allen [Kauai] on May 6, but the cause of death has not been determined, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Coordinator Jeff Walters.
A necropsy was performed and results are still pending, said NOAA’s Marine Mammal Response Coordinator David Schofield. With tissue samples sent “throughout the country” it could take “several weeks to several months” to ascertain what happened to her, Schofield said. […]
“It’s sad whenever we lose a seal under any circumstances, but to lose a juvenile female, with her future breeding potential, is especially tragic,” said Kaua‘i Monk Seal Watch Program Projects Coordinator Timothy Robinson. […]