Category: Hawaiian Monk Seal

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Update from Papahānaumokuākea

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

The August 2010 monthly update provides the following information on Hawaiian monk seals from the FWS Papahānaumokuākea team:

Two Hawaiian monk seals in danger of entanglement, as they rest on a pile of derelict fishing gear. John Klavitter/USFWS

“Hawaiian Islands NWR – French Frigate Shoals/ Tern Island […] Staff conducted marine debris pickups throughout the month. On one day alone, a full pallet tub of debris, nets, rope, wire, and trash was removed from East Island. Removal of netting, ropes, and wire is especially important to prevent Hawaiian monk seals and green turtles from potentially becoming entangled. […]

The French Frigate Shoals updates regarding Hawaiian monk seal activities are: 36 monk seal pups have been born; 5 are still nursing; 21 have weaned (of which 3 were killed by sharks); 1 pup died before it was weaned; and 6 pups have disappeared. Two weaned pups with nonfatal shark bites were frequenting East Island. […]

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Race raises $18,000 for monk seal rehab

Team swimmer Marjorie Boor. © Marine Mammal Center

The swim across the Maui Channel to raise funds for a dedicated rehabilitation unit for the critically-endangered Hawaiian monk seal has raised  $18,130, according to Cheryl Reiss of the Marine Mammal Center.

The all-female team of six from the Center  joined 52 other teams and 20 solo swimmers from around the world in a daring crossing of the Au Au channel, the MMC reported in a post-race statement. The channel is well known for dangers to swimmers such as swift currents, tiger sharks, and the Portuguese Man O’ War.

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Team “Hawaiian Monk Seal” in world’s longest open water relay swim

Media Watch, PR Web, 26 August 2010

On Saturday, September 4, 2010, team “Hawaiian Monk Seal” from The Marine Mammal Center will compete in the Maui Channel Swim to support the Center’s efforts to raise funds to build an urgently needed hospital for monk seals in Kona. The female swimmers will join 52 teams and 20 solo swimmers from around the world in a daring 10 mile crossing of the Au Au Channel from the beach at Lanai to Black Rock on the shores of Kaanapali. The channel is well known for dangers to swimmers such as swift currents, tiger sharks, and the Portuguese Man O’ War. The first Maui Channel Swim took place in 1972 and since then, it has grown to become the longest open water relay swim in the world. To help team “hawaiian Monk Seal” achieve their fundraising goal of $11K and save future populations of Hawaiian monk seals, go to: http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/what-you-can-do/events/team-from-the-marine-mammal.html.

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Hawaii’s Papahanaumokuakea marine sanctuary named U.N. World Heritage site

Media Watch, Derek Paiva, Hawaii Magazine, 4 August 2010

The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument — a 140,000 square mile conservation area comprising 10 islands and atolls in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands — has been designated as a United Nations World Heritage site.

The Hawaiian Island Archipelago, with the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument highlighted (click to enlarge). Image: Wikipedia/Commons

With the designation from the U.N.’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the area becomes one of only 26 “mixed” World Heritage sites in the world—and the first ever mixed site in the United States. The “mixed” designation honor’s Papahanaumokuakea’s natural and cultural importance. […]

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Summer field season draws to close in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

NOAA PIFSC, 4 August 2010

The NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette is at sea for 19 days on a scientific expedition to support Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) staff studying monk seals in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI).

Work on the highly endangered Hawaiian monk seal is being carried out by the Monk Seal Research Program, the PIFSC group responsible for monitoring the status of the seal population, conducting research to better understand factors affecting abundance of the seals, and finding ways to enhance the population’s recovery. Essential to the research program are field camps at the six major monk seal breeding locations in the NWHI. The camps are occupied by researchers during the summer as bases of operations for seal monitoring and other scientific work. During its current expedition, the Sette will pick up scientists and their equipment from field camps at French Frigate Shoals, Lisianski Island, Pearl and Hermes Reef, and Kure Atoll where seasonal studies have been completed. The vessel’s crew will also exchange personnel and resupply an existing camp at Laysan Island, resupply a camp at Kure that will re-commence operations in September, and conduct surveys of seals at Mokumanamana, Nihoa Island, and Kaula Rock.

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Good news/bad news for Hawaiian monk seals

Media Watch, Good news/bad news for Hawaiian monk seals, Earthsky.org, 3 August 2010

Jeff Walters is the Hawaiian monk seal recovery coordinator for NOAA Fisheries Service. Walters said that in the isolated northwest Hawaiian islands, the number of monk seals is declining by four percent every year. That’s the bad news. But the good news is that a smaller population of seals on the main Hawaiian islands is growing and thriving, he said.

Jeff Walters: Over the past few years, we’ve had twenty or more seals born in the main Hawaiian islands every year.

Even though the main Hawaiian islands have a much larger human population, the seals are doing better there because they don’t have as much competition for food, or as many predators, said Walters. But, he added, when people try to feed or play with the seals, it runs the risk of “taming” them, which hurts the seal’s chances of surviving in the wild.

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