Further examination of the body of female Mediterranean monk seal Adriana, who died on 25 August 2014 in Croatia, has revealed that she was shot at twice, in all probability many years earlier, according to press reports and Jasna Antolović of Croatia’s Mediterranean Monk Seal Group. Continue reading “Croatian monk seal Adriana may have been shot twice during her lifetime”
Monk seal death in Ithaca: another forgotten statistic?
On 27 August, we published news on our Facebook page of an apparent monk seal killing on the islet of Atokos near Ithaca. The incident had been reported to us by Mattia Bernasconi of Ithaca-based Kioni.net, who discovered the young seal floating dead in the water, its stomach and abdomen bearing a large, deep gash.
Although we understand that Kioni reported the incident to the Ithaca Port Police, no official alert was received by MOm (Hellenic Society for the Study & Protection of the Monk Seal), the NGO that administers the monk seal rescue and stranding network in Greece (RINT). Port Police offices form important constituent parts of the RINT, being encouraged to report as a matter of urgency any monk seal deaths or strandings.
The Monachus Guardian alerted MOm of the monk seal death on Atokos by email on 27 August, but received no reply until a followup message on 12 September.
We were informed that the organisation had been in touch with Kioni as soon as news of the apparent killing appeared on the Internet. With the Port Police’s lapse in reporting the incident, however, and the body subsequently drifting away or washing up unremarked elsewhere, any chance of a necropsy had been lost.
Examining the photos, MOm expressed the view that the injury might have been inflicted while the animal was still trapped in fishing nets (dead or alive), with the intention of sinking the carcass (and thus potentially incriminating evidence). The absence of the body preventing any firm conclusion on the cause of death, however, no further investigation was conducted nor information released to the press.
The official, NGO and press reaction to the killing comes in stark contrast to similar incidents in Hawaii, which have generated headlines nationally, intensive investigation, outreach programmes to local fishing communities and legislative change.
We have to wonder when Greece and the European Union might wake up to similar action.
Greece
Officials investigate seal death
Media Watch, Officials probe fourth Hawaiian monk seal death, Hawaii News Now
HONOLULU (AP) – Federal and state officials are investigating the fourth suspicious death of a Hawaiian monk seal in six months after a male seal was found dead in northeastern Kauai. […]
Source: Officials probe fourth Hawaiian monk seal death, Hawaii News Now, 25 April 2012.
New monk seal killing alarms Hawaii
Media Watch, Reward offered in death of Monk Seal, KITV
KAUAI – The Department of Land and Natural Resources is investigating the death of a 3-year-old male monk seal, who was found dead on Sunday.
DLNR chair William Aila said the seal was found on a Northeast Kaua’i beach in an area were seals have been harmed before. […]
DLNR officials say this is the fifth monk seal death under investigation.
Since November, three seals were found dead on Molokai and two have been found dead on Kaua’i.
The reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the monk seal deaths is now up to $40,000.
The anonymous and reward tip line is 1-855-DLNR-TIP.
Source: Reward offered in death of Monk Seal, KITV, 25 April 2012
Some say monk seal protection law may have backfired
Media Watch, KITV,25 January 2012
The suspicious death of four Hawaiian monk seals has triggered numerous calls into a tipline hoping to lead investigators to who may be responsible. […]
$30,000 Reward
Media Watch, Honolulu Star Advertiser, 12 January 2012
Rewards of up to $30,000, the largest of its kind in Hawaii, are being offered for confidential tips that lead to the arrest and conviction of whoever killed three critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals on Molokai and Kauai since November.
Tips on each killing come with individual $10,000 rewards, for a total of $30,000 for all three cases, said Inga Gibson, Hawaii’s state director for the Humane Society of the United States. […]
Today, Aila [chairman of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources] and Gibson [Hawaii’s state director for the Humane Society of the United States] announced a new toll-free, confidential hotline for tips that can lead to the $10,000 and $30,000 rewards — 1-855-DLNR-TIP. [More]
Source: $30,000 in rewards offered for clues on who killed monk seals, Dan Nakaso, Honolulu Star Advertiser, 12 January 2012