Tag: NWHI

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Aggressive Hawaiian monk seal escapes death sentence

Media Watch, The Garden Island, 16 August 2011

A controversial decision by federal officials to “lethally remove” an adult Hawaiian monk seal that was attacking — and apparently killing — pups at Kure Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands had to be put on hold: The seal was nowhere to be found.

“We have basically missed our opportunity for his removal for this year, and we will begin reviewing our options for dealing with his aggression for next year,” said Charles Littnan, head of the Hawaiian monk seal research program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. […]

Source: Monk seal escapes sealed fate, The Garden Island, 16 August 2011

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NOAA plans to euthanize “rogue” monk seals

Media Watch, Hawaii News Now, 6 August 2011

NOAA says it plans to euthanize one and possibly two adult male Hawaiian monk seals at Kure Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands this month to protect female monk seals and pups.

In a news release the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument on Friday said that the male adult seals have been attacking and mortally wounding young female seals and pups at Kure over the last several years.

The news release says, the agencies responsible for management of the Monument are mandated to mitigate potential threats to an endangered species as well as respond to imminent threats and take all specific regulatory actions to aid the recovery of the species. Managers made the decision now due to the severe threat to the population at Kure.

“None of the managing agencies take this action lightly,” said Monument Management Board Chair Dan Polhemus. “The Board is in a very difficult situation with one of the toughest issues we have faced. If we do not take action, we risk additional young female seals being injured or killed by these males, and losing their future potential to reproduce and help increase the decimated monk seal population.” […]

NOAA says it has a five day window to euthanize the seals, the last day being August 10.

Source: NOAA plans to euthanize “rogue” monk seals, Hawaii News Now, 6 August 2011.

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Desperate times, desperate measures…

Media Watch, The Huffington Post (Audry McAvoy, Associated Press), 21 May 2011
James Watt / SeaPics / Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

Federal biologists scouring for ways to spare the critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal from extinction are embracing a desperate if unorthodox strategy: They want to pluck seal pups from the small, pristine island atolls where they’re born and move them closer to Honolulu and other highly populated areas.

Scientists say this counterintuitive step is needed to help save a species that’s declining at a rate of 4 percent annually. But it is already proving to be controversial, and even unpopular among fishermen who don’t want hungry seals eating their bait and accidentally getting caught in their nets and lines.

The National Marine Fisheries Service plans to formally propose the “translocation” of the seals in July, The Associated Press has learned. It wants to bring a few recently weaned female pups to the main Hawaiian Islands each year, keep them here until they’re three years old, and then send them back to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

“We’re desperate. That’s the bottom line. We’re watching this species just crash right in front of our eyes. This is really one of the few things that we think has a chance of making a difference,” said Jeff Walters, the agency’s Hawaiian monk seal recovery coordinator. […Continues…]

Source: Feds aim to save Hawaiian monk seal, The Huffington Post (Audry McAvoy, Associated Press), 21 May 2011

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Field camps established to determine tsunami impacts on Hawaiian monk seals

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument News Release, 25 April 2011
Photo: Courtesy NOAA

(Honolulu, HI) NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette returned to port at Ford Island/Pearl Harbor on April 22, 2011 after a multi-faceted mission to Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Directed by NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), one of the cruise’s primary goals was to establish five field camps and deploy 14 scientists with the Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program (HMSRP). Over the course of the next three to four months the researchers will build upon 28 years of field research into the critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal. The population of Hawaiian monk seals is declining about 4% annually, driven largely by poor juvenile survival; with fewer than 1 in 5 pups surviving to become adults in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

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