Tag: human-seal interaction

Posted on

Pit Bull attacks Big Island monk seal

Media Watch, The National Parks of the Pacific Islands, July 31, 2010

The following report was received from the Hilo Marine Mammal Response Network:

Unfortunately, a monk seal was attacked by a Pit Bull earlier today (Friday, July 30) in the Kau region. Reports from the NOAA law enforcement agency say the attack lasted for about a minute until the seal retreated into the ocean. The extent of injury is unknown, and very little information is currently known about this matter. If you have any information (location attack may have taken place, name of dog owner, recent seal sightings, etc.) please contact our monk seal line at  808-756-5961, or email hmmrn@hawaii.edu .

Full Story

Kau, Hilo, Hawaii
Posted on

Dead monk seal pup found on Ni‘ihau

Media Watch, The Garden Island, 27 July 2010

LIHU‘E — Federal authorities are continuing to investigate the cause of death of an endangered Hawaiian monk seal pup found over the weekend on Ni‘ihau.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Services reached out Monday to Bruce Robinson — one of the family members who owns the island — to retrieve the carcass so that a necropsy might be done.

By the time Ni‘ihau men reached the pup all that was left was the skull and skeleton, so NOAA was no longer interested in the retrieval, according to Wende Goo, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service spokesperson.

The Ni‘ihau men reported finding something else near the dead pup — fresh footprints leading right up to the animal from the beach, according to Bruce Robinson’s brother, Keith Robinson.

Continue reading “Dead monk seal pup found on Ni‘ihau”

Posted on

Harming monk seals now a felony under Hawaii law

Media Watch, Hawaii News Now, 10 June 2010
Lt. Governor James "Duke" Aiona

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii has toughened penalties against people who harm endangered species, in particular against those who would harm the critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal. Lt. Governor James “Duke” Aiona signed Senate Bill 2441 into law Tuesday morning at the State Capitol. The law takes effect immediately.

“It was a community effort […] many, many other people stepped forward and said enough is enough. We need to make this a real crime. Hopefully other people will think twice about hurting and harming monk seals,” state Senator Gary Hooser said.

The new law adds additional punishment beyond the federal Endangered Species Act, imposing a fine of up to $50,000 and five years in prison on anyone who harms a monk seal. It also makes it a felony under Hawaii law to harass, harm or kill any endangered or threatened species. […]

Full Story

Posted on

Endangered Hawaiian monk seal given stronger protection under new Hawaii law

Media Watch, Derek Paiva, Hawaii Magazine, 9 June 2010

A bill seeking tougher penalties for anyone caught intentionally harming the Hawaiian monk seal, or other endangered Hawaii species, became state law this week.

Hawaii Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona signed Senate Bill 2441 into law, making the intentional harassing, harming or killing of a monk seal—or any endangered or threatened Hawaii species—a class C felony. The new Hawaii law extends punishment already imposed by violations of the federal Endangered Species Act, to include a fine of up to $50,000 and five years in prison.[…]

Though the new law covers all Hawaii animals protected by the Endangered Species Act, stronger protection of the endemic Hawaiian monk seal was the primary goal of lawmakers who drafted the bill.

Last year, a Kauai resident intentionally shot and killed a pregnant monk seal that was sunning on a beach where he wanted to go fishing. Though the maximum penalty under the Federal Endangered Species Act law specifies fines of up to $50,000 and a year in prison, the man—who pled guilty—was sentenced to 90 days in federal lock-up and a $25 fine.

An autopsy of an adult monk seal found dead in the offshore waters of Molokai by a fisherman last December also determined that the animal had been intentionally killed. The death is still under investigation. […]

Full Story

Posted on

Just published: Monachus Guardian June 2010

Just published: the June 2010 issue of The Monachus Guardian, the biannual journal focusing on the Mediterranean, Hawaiian and Caribbean monk seals.

This issue of The Monachus Guardian brings a special focus to the Mediterranean monk seals shot and dynamited in the Eastern Mediterranean since January. What is actually being done to eliminate the single most serious mortality threat confronting the species?

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CURRENT ISSUE:

Editorial: An epidemic of killings.

Hawaiian News: Seal numbers continue to dive…

Mediterranean News: Greece: Alarming numbers of dead seals… Mauritania: Record births at Cabo Blanco… Turkey: Monk seal deaths in the Turkish Aegean… New population size assessment study in the NE Mediterranean…

Cover Story: Markos’ Case: Trauma, treatment, and reflections, by Emily Joseph.

In Focus I: Monk seal killed by dynamite blast in the Aegean, by Anastasia Miliou.

In Focus II: Nefeli’s rehabilitation: methods, results, and challenges, by Emily Joseph.

Perspectives: The world’s two remaining monk seal species: how many different ways are there of being Critically Endangered? by Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara.

Research: Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus monachus, re-sighted along the Israeli coastline after more than half a century, by Aviad Scheinin, Oz Goffman, Mia Elasar and Dani Kerem…

Recent Publications.

The current and back issues of The Monachus Guardian are also available from the Monk Seal Library <http://www.monachus-guardian.org/library.htm>.

Posted on

Gillnet proves deadly for female monk seal

Press Watch, Honolulu Star Bulletin, April 16, 2010
A female monk seal, nicknamed Mikala, was found drowned Tuesday, wrapped in a gillnet off of Bellows Beach.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is investigating the apparent drowning of a 9 1/2 -month-old Hawaiian monk seal that was discovered tangled in a gillnet—the sixth such death since 1976.

At 10:26 a.m. Tuesday, the female monk seal, identified by scientists as RA14, was spotted floating off Bellows Beach. Lifeguards discovered the seal wrapped in a monofilament gillnet and pulled her from the water.

Necropsy results determined the seal, nicknamed Mikala, died of an apparent drowning due to the entanglement. […]

The Conservation and Resources Enforcement Division seized the netting as part of its investigation. It is unknown who owns the net.

Under state law all lay nets must be registered with the Department of Land and Natural Resources. It is unlawful to leave a lay net unattended for more than a half-hour. Nets also must be inspected within two hours after they are set.

Hawaiian monk seals are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Killing one is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $50,000 fine. […]

Full Story