RUNNING OUT OF FOOD
The Hawaiian Monk Seal population is struggling and is now unfortunately categorized as critically endangered. Human conflicts and threats have contributed to its annual decline of 5% every year since 2001 (Population Size and Threats, 2010). A main example of this issue is evident in unjust overfishing throughout the seal’s habitat. Hawaiian Monk Seals and humans on the Hawaiian Islands share the same food source of crabs lobster and fish. The port of Honolulu, which receives the fish taken from the Monk seal’s habitat, is the 8th largest in the nation, with a $59.4 million landed value (Hawaii Fishing industry, 2015). Although the seals don’t consume all of the fish caught by the industry, the bycatch of octopus, crab and smaller reef fish, which are part of the seal’s diet, is being caught and killed. This lack of a food source is a huge factor in the decline of the Hawaiian Monk Seal population. We are significantly reducing the Hawaiian Monk Seal’s chance of survival, and that must end now! The Monk Seal is the second most endangered seal in the world (Seal Information, 2011) and the rarest marine mammal in US waters (Hawaiian Monk Seal, 2015). It is our responsibility to stand up to the large fishing industry and demand that they fish elsewhere, far from the range of the Hawaiian Monk Seal.
HUMAN INTERFERENCE
Another threat to the Hawaiian Monk Seal is increased development on the beaches and coastline where the females give birth and rest. According to a statistic published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service, only one in five seal pups makes it to reproductive age. A main factor in this unfortunate reality for the pups is the encroachment of human developments on the habitat that the females rely on. After an 11-month gestation period, females give birth to a single pup on protected, sandy beaches near shallow water (Monachus schauinslandi, 2013). Unfortunately, most visitors to the Hawaiian Islands prefer protected beaches with sandy shores as well. This overlap is leading to the seals familiarizing themselves with humans, which negatively changes their natural behavior. The majority of the development is for the rapidly growing tourism industry where developers accommodate for their clients, meanwhile ignoring the fragile ecosystem of the Hawaiian Monk Seal. Luckily, some islands are less developed than others. For example, development zoning on the island of Kauai only allows building on 4% of the island and buildings no larger than four stories (Kauai, 2015). However, the overdeveloped Oahu, Maui and Big Island have truly left no coastal habitat for the Monk Seal.
In the lobster and fishing industry’s greed for fortune, vessels have dumped millions of nets into the ocean where dolphins, seals and fish become entangled. In efforts to clean the habitat of the Hawaiian Monk Seal, crews have extracted over 700 tons of debris since 1996, yet there is still a high rate of debris accumulation (Seal Information, 2011). The Hawaiian Monk Seal has the highest documented entanglement rate of all the pinniped species in the world (Population Size and Threats, 2010). Many currents that flow through the Pacific Ocean converge at the Hawaiian Island chain. Discarded fishing nets contaminate the once pristine habitat of the seals that have thrived in the islands for the past 13 million years (Ambassadors of Aloha, 2013).
THE HARMFUL FISHING INDUSTRY
The Hawaiian Monk Seal has a restricted range, which makes it’s food limitation more severe. The resources extracted from their range have had a devastating impact on the species. The Hawaiian Monk seal is endemic to the Hawaiian Island chain and Johnston Atoll. Any further depletion of resources could push the species to extinction (Population Size and Threats, 2010).
However, strides are being made in the right direction to protect and conserve the little remaining untouched coastline on the Hawaiian Islands where the future of the species is so dependent upon. On August 15th, 2015, the federal government expanded the seal’s critical habitat to 7,000 square miles. On top of this new breakthrough for the species, the federal government also has incorporated state input into new rules aimed at further protection for the critically endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal, by focusing protection on areas most important for foraging, pupping and resting (Lemmo, 2015). All this progress is due to a petition lead by petition by a local advocacy group, KAHEA; the Hawaiian Environmental Alliance, and two other environmental organizations (Lemmo, 2015). As you can see, progress starts with you, it starts with your signature and contribution to a movement larger than one individual. Click here to visit the petitions page and voice your opinion today!
