Hawaiian Monk Seal

Ilio Holo I Ka Uaua: Dog That Runs In Rough Water
CJ Covington

The Hawaiian monk seal is one of the rarest species of marine mammal in the world. They have existed in the subtropical waters of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands for the last 600 years. Six main subpopulations are found on six different NWHI but there are many sightings and even some births occurring on the main Hawaiian Islands.  The seals eat fish and crustaceans from the ocean and use the sandy beaches to rest and breed. Since the arrival of western civilization onto the Hawaiian Islands, monk seal populations began diminishing from reasons such as severe overhunting and habitat degradation. By 1976, the Hawaiian monk seal was placed on the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

http://www.kauaimonkseal.com

Hawaiian monk seals are fairly docile and when they show up on popular beaches they’re hard to miss. Hawaiian monk seal females can grow up to 2.4m (7.8ft) and weigh as much as 270kg (600lbs). Unassumingly, males measure up slightly smaller reaching up to 2.1m (6.8ft) in length and weighing around 170kg (375lbs). The seals can live for up to 25 years and females can begin reproduction at about the age of 5. Monk seal offspring are born at 16-18kg and measure about 1 meter.

http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/

The pups are born with black fur that begins to turn gray around maturity. Adults are usually dark gray to brown on their backs and light gray or light brown on their bellies. About once a year, Hawaiian monk seals experience a molt, where they shed their top layer of skin and fur. Seals can sometimes look green because of algae that grows on their fur, so the molt helps them gain a shiny new silver coat every year.

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The Hawaiian monk seal resides in an ever-changing habitat. The Hawaiian Islands sit on oceanic plate that is constantly moving northwest. Over time, dozens of islands have been created, altered, and destroyed by erosion and the tectonic plates. Most of the monk seal populations reside in six separate subpopulations among the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. They commonly frequent Kure Atoll, Midway Atoll, Pearl and Hermes Reef, Lisianski Island, Laysen Island, and French Frigate Shoals. Although the Hawaiian monk seal is managed as a single population by the US National Marine Fisheries Service, it consists of different meta-populations. Research shows that the islands present a patchy habitat with some populations being highly independent and others that often emigrate and immigrate. Between 1958 and 1996, beach counts of the main populations decreased by 60%. The still declining population has dwindled to about 1200-1300 animals.

http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov

On November 23, 1976 the Hawaiian monk seal was listed as endangered on the Endangered Species Act. The monk seal is also listed as Red List of Threatened Species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. The Hawaiian monk seal faces a mountain of threats towards its survival.Threats include: ingestion of pollution or toxic substances, incidental capture in fishing gear, decrease in food availability, human disturbance, habitat loss, shark predation, and slow reproductive rates.

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The US Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Plan laid out these steps to maintaining and recovering Hawaiian monk seal populations:

1. Investigate and mitigate factors affecting food limitation

2. Prevent entanglements of monk seals

3. Reduce shark predation on monk seals

4. Minimize the risk of exposure to or spread of infectious disease

5. Conserve Hawaiian monk seal habitat

6. Reduce Hawaiian monk seal interactions with fisheries

7. Reduce male aggression toward pups/immature seals and adult females

8. Reduce the likelihood and impact of human interactions

9. Investigate and develop response to biotoxin impacts

10. Reduce impacts from compromised and grounded vessels

11. Reduce the impacts of contaminants

12. Continue population monitoring and research

13. Create and implement a main Hawaiian Islands Hawaiian Monk Seal

Management Plan

14. Implement the Recovery Plan for the Hawaiian Monk Seal

Works Cited

"Recovery Plan For The Hawaiian Monk Seal." US Fish and Wildlife Service. Environmental Conservation Online

     System, 22 Aug. 2007. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. <http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/hawaiianmonkseal.pdf>.

The Monachus Guardian. Monachus-guardian.org., 1 Jan. 2006. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. <http://www.monachus

     guardian.org/factfiles/hawai01.htm>.

"Hawaiian Monk Seal Natural History." National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Web. 12 Mar. 2015

     <http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/hawaiian_monk_seal/natural_history.php>.

"Hawaiian Monk Seal (Neomonachus Schauinslandi)." National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 6 Jan.

     2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2015. <http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/seals/hawaiian-monk

     seal.html>.