Author: Editor

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NOAA removes “aggressive” monk seal from NWHI

Statement, NOAA Fisheries, 10 February 2012

In 2010 and 2011 NOAA Fisheries staff began to observe a nine-year old monk seal, KE18, attacking newly weaned and juvenile seals at Kure Atoll in the NWHI; causing injuries including lacerations, scratches and puncture wounds on this critical component of the monk seal population. KE18 seriously injured 10 of the 13 pups and an additional three juveniles during the 2010 and 2011 field camps on Kure Atoll. When KE18 transited to Midway Atoll there were two unexplained deaths during his time there.

Continue reading “NOAA removes “aggressive” monk seal from NWHI”

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Research and showbiz planned for aggressive monk seal

Media Watch, Hawaii News Now, 4 February 2012

Marine mammal experts once considered KE-18 to be such a dangerous Hawaiian monk seal it appeared they had no choice but to euthanize him. Six months later KE-18 has been captured and is headed for life as a research subject and aquarium attraction.

KE-18 is known to have attacked at least 13 pups and juvenile seals at Kure and Midway Atolls. […]

The plan is to move KE-18 to U.C. Santa Cruz in late February. It is the same facility where another Hawaiian monk seal, KP2, lived for two years before being brought back to Hawaii and a permanent home at the Waikiki Aquarium.

While in Santa Cruz, KE-18 will serve as a research subject. [More]

Source: Research & showbiz planned for aggressive monk seal, Hawaii News Now, 4 February 2012.

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Feds: Hawaiian monk seal population 30% higher because of rescues

Media Watch, The Republic, 26 January 2012
NOAA researchers freeing an entangled monk seal. Courtesy NOAA.

Federal data show cutting Hawaiian monk seals free from fishing nets, moving vulnerable pups away from preying sharks and other efforts to rescue the animals are significantly helping the endangered species.

One-fifth of the roughly 1,100 Hawaiian monk seals in the world are alive today because of interventions to save them, their mother or their grandmother between 1994 and 2009, figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show.

The seal population is also about 30 percent larger today than it would have been if authorities didn’t act. [More]

Source: Feds: Hawaiian monk seal population is 30 percent higher today because of rescue efforts, The Republic, Audrey McAvoy/AP, 26 January 2012.

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Cruise ship wreck a threat to monk seals

Media Watch, New Scientist, 18 January 2012

The huge scale of the Costa Concordia disaster is apparent in this satellite image of the stricken cruise ship just off the Italian island of Giglio.

The oil boom that aims to protect the coast from fuel leaks from the ship’s giant tanks is visible trailing along the left-hand side. The island and its surrounding waters are part of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, which is home to the endangered Mediterranean monk seal. […]

Editor’s note: For more detailed information on the monk seal at Giglio, see Italy.

Source: Costa Concordia cruise ship pictured from space, New Scientist, 18 January 2012

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Special Report: Fight for Survival

Media Watch, Honolulu Star Advertiser, 15 January 2012

[…] The current theory is that the ancient ancestors of today’s Hawaiian monk seals began exploring from their original home in the Caribbean 3 million years ago through what is now Central America during a time of global climate change, said Charles Littnan, program leader for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hawaiian monk seals research.

“We don’t know how long that immigration took to occur, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years,” Littnan said. “We do know that quite dramatic climate change was happening, and these are tropical animals that will have to go to where they are better adapted to survive. They probably went to other areas and didn’t survive. But Hawaii was this perfect match for this far-traveling seafarer.” […]

Source: The Hawaiian Monk Seal, Living Fossil, Dan Nakaso, Special Report, Honolulu Star Advertiser, 15 January 2012. [PDF 20.2 MB]