Author: Editor

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Hawaiian monk seal scoping report available

NOAA announcement, 1 February 2011

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO) has published the Scoping Summary Report for the Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Actions PEIS, which presents a public record and summary of the scoping activities that occurred from October 1, 2010 through November 30, 2010.  The report can be viewed online.

In the coming months, the Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Actions Draft PEIS will be released and a 60-day public comment period will be announced.

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Musings: Trails and Seals

Media Watch, Joan Conrow, KauaiEclectic, 26 January 2011

[…] After swimming at the northern end of the beach, I was heading back when I spotted four men and two women mugging an endangered Hawaiian monk seal that I’d previously seen sleeping peacefully among the rocks. The seal’s face was covered with a net, but its eyes met mine and they conveyed terror, which left me with a sickeningly disturbed feeling that still lingers.

Although signs erected around a snoozing seal further down the beach warned the public to stay away, this group was allowed to conduct the equivalent of an alien abduction— taking blood and fat samples, swabbing all its orifices and gluing a radio transmitter onto its back — because they are federal scientists striving to protect the seal, or at least help us humans figure out how to do so — provided it doesn’t cause our species too much inconvenience.

While I understand the NOAA and NMFS folks have the very best intentions — which, as well know, also pave the proverbial road to hell — if you check out the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for studying the dwindling seal population, you really have to wonder just how much trauma will be inflicted upon these native marine mammals in an effort to “recover” them. […]

Full Story: KauaiEclectic

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Monk seal and hump-backed dolphin are threatened by fishing activities off coast of Mauritania

Media Watch, Plataforma SINC, Press Release, 21 January 2011
Monk seal approaching artisanal fishers in Mauritania (Photo: A. Aguilar)

Catalan researchers have studied the marine trophic network in Mauritania, on the north west coast of Africa, which is an extremely heavily exploited fishing area, as well as being home to two of the world’s most threatened species of marine mammal – the monk seal and the Atlantic hump-backed dolphin. The results of the study show that industrial and traditional fishing activities along the coast are putting these mammals and local marine ecosystems at great danger.

Continue reading “Monk seal and hump-backed dolphin are threatened by fishing activities off coast of Mauritania”

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Foça pups: feeding video

A video released by Turkish NGO SAD-AFAG illustrates how a pair of recently orphaned Mediterranean monk seal pups, undergoing rehabilitation in Foça, Turkey, have been introduced to an innovative bowl-feeding method (in place of the customary and more invasive force-feeding technique). Courtesy: SAD-AFAG.

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Medical waste spreads down Leeward Coast

Media Watch, Honolulu Star Advertiser, 18 January 2011

Medical waste and other trash continued to soil Leeward Coast beaches yesterday, washing ashore in spots farther down the shore from where the debris was initially found. […]

Barbara Billand, a volunteer with the Hawaiian Monk Seal Response Team, said her group found a vial of blood, more than a dozen syringes and a bag of plastic medical tubing over the past two days while scouring White Plains, Nimitz and Maipalaoa beaches. The group began its cleanup out of concern over a monk seal in the area that was last seen Saturday at White Plains.

“We are concerned not just for people, but for the monk seals,” Billand said.

The Department of Health issued a statement Sunday saying Waste Management had provided documentation showing the medical waste had been sterilized and was not considered infectious, although the public still was at risk of puncture wounds. […]

Full Story: Honolulu Star Advertiser

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Two orphaned pups enter rehab in Foça

Rehabilitation breaks new ground in feeding methods

Two orphaned Mediterranean monk seal pups are being treated at a rehabilitation facility in Foça, Turkey, according to a press release issued by Turkish NGO SAD-AFAG.

The female pups were discovered in separate regions both on the 18 December 2010: the Bozyazı region, Mersin, and the Kas region, Antalya, both along Turkey’s Mediterranean coastline. It is thought that a heavy storm might have been responsible for separating the pups from their mothers.

Alerted to the discovery of the pups by the Coast Guard and Gendarmerie, SAD-AFAG dispatched a rescue team led by veterinarian Avni Gök to both sites, where Oral Rehydration Therapy and other first aid was administered. The pups were then transported to the “Foca Monk Seal Rehab Unit” on 19 December.

The pups, reports SAD-AFAG, have so far responded well to treatment. In a potentially important development — and in a break from standard procedure — initial force-feeding was substituted by offering the pups weighed quantities of minced fish porridge in open cups.

“Both seals,” says SAD-AFAG’s Cem Orkun Kıraç, “have fully been managing to ‘drink’ the fish porridge from the cups, ingesting the whole food slowly but without any problem since the 26th and 31st December 2010.”

He goes on: “Since these dates, no force feeding has been applied to either pup at all. The seals have gained weight since their arrival, and have already started to chase live fish and octopus in their pool in the rehab unit. It is expected that the pups may start live fish catching and eating soon.”

Turkey

Turkey

Full Story and Photos: Two new orphan pups under rehab in Foça, Türkiye, SAD-AFAG News Release, 7 January 2011.