Hawaiian Monk Seals: Mermaid Dogs in Distress by Megan Savage

Meet the Hawaiian Monk Seal!

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The Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi) is the state mammal of Hawaii. It is also one of the closest living relatives to the oldest known monk seal species, and has noticeable similarities to those whose fossils were found to be 14-16 million years old. As pups, the Hawaiian monk seals weigh up to 17kg and are covered in black fuzz. As they grow older, adult female seals can reach up to 205 kg and 2.3m long; males can reach up to 170kg and 2.1m long. Their diet consists mostly of fish, squid, octopus, and lobster, and monk seals usually hunt in the night hours. 

Hawaiian monk seals are found mainly in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, but some can be found on the Main and Midway Islands as well. They spend most of their lives in the water, but come up onto the sandy beaches every so often to have pups, nurse, relax, and molt.

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As an endangered species originally listed in March of 1983, a new recovery plan was issued in August of 2007. 

According to the recovery plan, there are only about 1,200 individual Hawaiian monk seals remaining. Since there are so few left, genetic diversity is a big concern, especially since disease is a large threat to the seals’ survival. Human disturbance, in general, is one of the largest threats: as humans have taken away much of the seals’ habitat and resources. In addition, the presence of fisheries has a negative impact on the seals not only by taking away their food resources, but also by accidentally catching them in their fishing nets. “Ghost nets” floating around in the water tangle the seals and some get caught during the fishing harvest itself. Other threats include shark predation, starvation, biotoxins, and aggressive male seals attacking females and pups.

There are a couple of main objectives in this recovery plan. It states that the first is to increase the survival of juvenile female seals; the second is to “maintain an extensive field presence throughout the mating season”. The third goal is a bit more extensive, as the objective is to “reduce threats including interactions with recreational fisheries, disturbance of mother-pup pairs, disturbance of hauled out seals, and exposure to human and domestic animal diseases…” with help from the government and the community.  The last objective is to “reduce the probability of the introduction of infectious diseases into the Hawaiian monk seal population.”

But, there is hope for these adorable animals, as the rescue efforts seem to work thus far. Continual intervention from the local and federal governments in these efforts will be necessary to their survival. Hopefully one day they Hawaiian monk seals can be downlisted until they are, once again, a healthy species throughout the Hawaiian Islands. 

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Recovery Plan cited from http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/hawaiianmonkseal.pdf

Generic Information cited from http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/what-we-do/ke-kai-ola/about-hawaiian-monk-seals.html