Tag: Main Hawaiian Islands

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Endangered Hawaiian monk seal given stronger protection under new Hawaii law

Press Watch, Hawai’i Magazine.com, 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. […]

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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>.

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Monk seal found dead at Glass Beach

Media Watch, The Garden Island, 13 May 2010

LIHU‘E — A critically endangered juvenile female Hawaiian monk seal was found dead at Glass Beach near ‘Ele‘ele and Port Allen [Kauai] on May 6, but the cause of death has not been determined, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Coordinator Jeff Walters.

A necropsy was performed and results are still pending, said NOAA’s Marine Mammal Response Coordinator David Schofield. With tissue samples sent “throughout the country” it could take “several weeks to several months” to ascertain what happened to her, Schofield said. […]

“It’s sad whenever we lose a seal under any circumstances, but to lose a juvenile female, with her future breeding potential, is especially tragic,” said Kaua‘i Monk Seal Watch Program Projects Coordinator Timothy Robinson. […]

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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. […]

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High-tech transmitters giving up secret lives of Hawaiian seals

Press Watch, Honolulu Advertiser, April 11, 2010

Navy pays for devices that also gauge how sonar affects species

Up to 15 monk seals in Hawai’i will be doing their part over the coming year to help scientists understand them better.

The critically endangered animals will wear small transmitters that reveal their movements, including how deep they dive, when they haul out on land and how far they roam.

Accumulating normal habits of the seals also will be used to gauge the effect Navy training exercises, including use of sonar, may have on the animals.

The Navy is footing the bill for the $4,500-each transmitters, NOAA scientists’ travel and veterinary costs associated with the project. The project is slated to last several years.

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Monk seal attack investigation ongoing

Press Watch, The Garden Island, December 27, 2009

K12 is mother of seal slain in separate incident

LIHU‘E — “Maha‘ulepu Mama” is no Hawaiian monk seal to mess with.

She takes her role in perpetuating the endangered species very seriously, and woe to the woman or man who comes too close to her newborn.

Scientifically known as K12, she has given birth to at least four pups at Maha‘ulepu Beach on the South Shore. The most recent, PK4 (sex unknown at present), was earlier this month.

Authorities are continuing to investigate an encounter Monday that involved K12 taking a few bites out of Rebecca Wahlman, 28, of Kirkland, Wash.

Wahlman spent Monday night at Wilcox Memorial Hospital, where she received treatment for superficial wounds, according to a county press release. She was released on Tuesday, according to a hospital spokesperson. […]

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