Media Watch, USA Today, 8 January 2012
No one knows who is killing the seals — a critically endangered species — or why.
But the deaths are coming as the federal government steps up its efforts to protect the seals, leading to simmering resentment among some fishermen who fear new regulations will trample upon their right to fish. The killings are also happening as the misguided notion spreads that the animals aren’t native to Hawaii and don’t belong here.
“It’s really serious. This attitude, this negative attitude toward the seals has overpowered the concern that this is a species that’s going to become extinct,” said Walter Ritte, a Molokai resident and longtime activist who has sounded an alarm about the killings. [More]
Source: Outbreak of endangered seal killings in Hawaii, USA Today, 8 January 2012.