Hawaiian monk seal in its native habitat. Photo: NOAA

Pup Births Fall to Record Lows

The monk seal successfully survived in the Hawaiian Islands for millions of years until it was hunted to near extinction in the 1800s. Today, monk seals are at risk from entanglement in fishing gear and other marine debris, overfishing, invasive species, sea level rise and ocean acidification. But recovery efforts face strong opposition from fishermen who fear the seals’ competition for fish, and others who see any federal protections as intrusion. Adding to these threats, vocal resistance to critical habitat and recovery actions for the seal has taken an increasingly ominous turn. In late 2011 and earlier this year, four monk seals died of suspicious head injuries and a fifth is being investigated. More are suspected of having been killed offshore. New reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provide further concern. According to Charles Littnan, lead scientist for the Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program at NOAA, monk seal births in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) are at an all-time low. Just 105 pups were born in the NWHI this year; the lowest number since records began to be kept 30 years ago.

Recovery Funding Key to Preventing Extinction

The Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Plan, released in 2007, identified funding needs totaling $36 million over 5 years, or approximately $7 million per year in order to successfully recover and protect the seal. Though essential to the survival of the seal, these figures have never been fully realized. The Recovery Program has lost 36% of its funding from 2010 ($5.5 million to $3.5 million) and proposed cuts for 2013 threaten to further eliminate key parts of research and recovery efforts that could literally mean life or death to the endangered monk seal.

Data from NOAA show that less than 200 seals live near the main Hawaiian Islands of O‘ahu, Maui Hawai‘i, Kaua‘i, Moloka‘i, Lana‘i, Kaho‘olawe, and Ni‘ihau. Here, the majority of pups born annually survive just fine.  But out in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands where the vast majority of monk seals reside, fewer than one in five pups ever reach adulthood. Starvation and Galapagos sharks, which come into the shallow waters to prey on seal pups, take a huge annual toll.

Raising the survival rates of female pups to breeding age is key to the species’ survival. But doing so depends entirely on securing critical funding. Part of the recovery plan calls for temporarily moving small numbers of female pups from the NWHI to the main islands for up to three years to support greater survivability. Funding cuts threaten these translocation efforts as well as other important components of the recovery plan. According to the NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, the survival of the Hawaiian monk seal will depend largely on the stability of this recovery funding over the next several years, making the next 5 to 10 years crucial to the survival of the seal.

Donate now to help prevent monk seal killings and preserve vital seal habitat.

Make your voice heard: Speak Up for the Hawaiian Monk Seal

Right now, Congress is hearing mainly from those who oppose the actions that are needed to save our Hawaiian monk seals. Please take a moment to add your voice to those of us across the nation calling for protection of the Hawaiian monk seal by contacting your members of congress. Take action here to urge your members of Congress to support and fully fund recovery actions that will prevent Hawaiian monks seal from going extinct.

A diver photographs a giant manta ray as it glides through Pacific waters off the coast of Socorro Island, Mexico. Photo by Kat Fisher.

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Wisdom, Laysan Albatross

She’s an old bird, a new mom, and a survivor. Wisdom, a laysan albatross in her sixties, and her chick survived a tsunami that struck their Pacific island home in March. The area was hit hard by ocean waves following the 9.0 earthquake in Japan.

Wisdom is the oldest known wild bird in North America. She was first tagged in the 1950s at the age of five. Since then, the eight-pound albatross has been making chicks longer than some people have been alive, raising over thirty little birds. Wisdom can also put any frequent flyer to shame, logging over three million miles of flight time in her long life. She is part of a  group of sea birds that breed on the Hawaiian islands and feed off of the West coast of North America.

To find out more about birds like Wisdom and how you can help wildlife, visit NWF’s wildlife page.

Kevin Jess at the Digitial Journal reports:

“A flotilla of 1,900 cloud ships would be needed to cruise the Pacific Ocean in order to create clouds that would deflect the sun rays and curb global warming. The project, now being worked on by U.S. and UK scientists is the favorite among many schemes aimed at fighting climate change. It would see wind-powered ships travelling the ocean sucking up seawater and spraying minuscule droplets of it out through tall funnels to create large white clouds.” See full article.