Posts

Posted on

Trial set in death of monk seal

Press Watch, Honolulu Advertiser,  August 12, 2009

78-year-old man pleads not guilty in the fatal shooting on Kauai beach

A 78-year-old man accused of shooting to death an endangered Hawaiian monk seal on Kaua’i in May pleaded not guilty to the charge yesterday in U.S. District Court.

Charles Vidinha of Kaua’i was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond after entering his plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie Kobayashi. Vidinha’s trial was set for Oct. 14. […]

Vidinha is charged with shooting a pregnant monk seal May 21 at Pila’a Beach, a remote beach on Kaua’i’s north shore. The seal, known as RK-06, was the mother of five pups, federal officials said.

Full article

Posted on

i-monk Alliance

The International Monk Seal Conservation Alliance (i-monk Alliance), formed in November last year, has launched its own website at www.i-monk.org.

The Alliance, composed of research and conservation organisations from across the range of the species, is currently developing a number of practical initiatives to improve conservation measures for Europe’s most endangdered marine mammal, the Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus monachus. Current organisational members include CBD-Habitat (Fundación para la Conservación de la Biodiversidad y su Hábitat) of Spain, IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare), MOm (The Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal) of Greece, The Monachus Guardian (an international journal and website dedicated to monk seals), The Parque Natural da Madeira of Portugal, and SAD-AFAG (Underwater Research Society/ Mediterranean Seal Research Group) of Turkey.

Posted on

Man indicted in shooting death of monk seal

News Watch, Honolulu Advertiser, August 5, 2009

A 78-year-old Kaua’i man was indicted today on a charge that he violated the U.S. Endangered Species Act in connection with the May 21 shooting death of a Hawaiian monk seal on the island’s north shore.

Charles Vidinha is expected to appear in federal court in Honolulu at 3 p.m. Tuesday for an arraignment on the charge.

Vidinha was indicted by a federal grand jury in Honolulu today.

If convicted, Vidinha faces maximum penalties of one year imprisonment and a fine of $50,000.

Full article

Posted on

From pristine reefs to coral wastelands

News Watch, Honolulu Advertiser, July 26, 2009

The scientific projections are ominous.

If substantial steps aren’t taken globally to counter the effects of climate change, reefs in Hawai’i and around the world eventually could become coral wastelands, decimated by increasingly acidic and warming ocean waters.

Some scientists say such a scenario, which would wreak havoc with Hawai’i’s fisheries and the state economy, could come by the end of the century, perhaps even a few decades sooner. […]

One wild card is whether corals, resilient organisms that can rebound from some major stresses, will be able to adapt to climate change-related chemical alterations in the environment that are occurring at rates not seen for millions of years.

Scientists also are uncertain whether the predicted effects will happen as quickly or as severely as the models indicate.

“The thing to worry about is not that it will be as bad as we think,” said Paul Jokiel, researcher at the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology. “It’s that it will be much worse than we think.”

Full article

Posted on

Monk seal conservation strategy launched in Greece

National Strategy coverMOm (the Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal) has announced the publication of a national conservation strategy for the species to be implemented between 2009 and 2015.

Prepared by marine mammalogist Giuseppe Notarbaratolo di Sciara in association with MOm’s own researchers, the Strategy has now been submitted to the Greek authorities and the European Commission, in the hope that its various recommendations will be officially adopted and implemented.

The report can be downloaded from MOm’s website.

Notarbartolo di Sciara, G., S. Adamantopoulou, E. Androukaki, P. Dendrinos, A.A. Karamanlidis, V. Paravas, S. Kotomatas. 2009. National strategy and action plan for the conservation of the Mediterranean monk seal in Greece, 2009 – 2015. MOm, Athens: 1–19.

Posted on

National Geographic pulls monk seal story

Following a complaint lodged by The Monachus Guardian (see Sealed with a Kiss? below), National Geographic has removed a recent picture story on its website featuring orphaned monk seal “Badem”, and National Geographic Fellow Enric Sala.

In reply to our email, Enric Sala stated: “I was shown your email today about this post on the Wild Blog site. When I read the post (which I did for the first time this morning) I was alarmed and asked for it to be removed immediately, which they did. I am well aware of the issues associated with rehabilitation of monk seals, and agree with your concerns… I apologize for any offense that this post may have caused you and our monk seal friends. I will work to make sure that this kind of mistake is not repeated.”