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Headlines – News – Articles
27th January, 2012
Media Watch, The Republic, 26 January 2012
 Federal data show cutting Hawaiian monk seals free from fishing nets, moving vulnerable pups away from preying sharks and other efforts to rescue the animals are significantly helping the endangered species.
One-fifth of the roughly 1,100 Hawaiian monk seals in the world are alive today because of interventions to save them, their mother or their grandmother between 1994 and 2009, figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show.
The seal population is also about 30 percent larger today than it would have been if authorities didn’t act. [More]
Source: Feds: Hawaiian monk seal population is 30 percent higher today because of rescue efforts, The Republic, Audrey McAvoy/AP, 26 January 2012.
27th January, 2012
Media Watch, KITV,25 January 2012
The suspicious death of four Hawaiian monk seals has triggered numerous calls into a tipline hoping to lead investigators to who may be responsible. [...]
YouTube Video
19th January, 2012
Media Watch, New Scientist, 18 January 2012
 The huge scale of the Costa Concordia disaster is apparent in this satellite image of the stricken cruise ship just off the Italian island of Giglio.
The oil boom that aims to protect the coast from fuel leaks from the ship’s giant tanks is visible trailing along the left-hand side. The island and its surrounding waters are part of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, which is home to the endangered Mediterranean monk seal. [...]
Editor’s note: For more detailed information on the monk seal at Giglio, see Italy.
Source: Costa Concordia cruise ship pictured from space, New Scientist, 18 January 2012
16th January, 2012
Media Watch, Honolulu Star Advertiser, 15 January 2012
[...] The current theory is that the ancient ancestors of today’s Hawaiian monk seals began exploring from their original home in the Caribbean 3 million years ago through what is now Central America during a time of global climate change, said Charles Littnan, program leader for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Hawaiian monk seals research.
“We don’t know how long that immigration took to occur, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years,” Littnan said. “We do know that quite dramatic climate change was happening, and these are tropical animals that will have to go to where they are better adapted to survive. They probably went to other areas and didn’t survive. But Hawaii was this perfect match for this far-traveling seafarer.” [...]
Source: The Hawaiian Monk Seal, Living Fossil, Dan Nakaso, Special Report, Honolulu Star Advertiser, 15 January 2012. [PDF 20.2 MB]
12th January, 2012
Media Watch, Honolulu Star Advertiser, 12 January 2012
 Rewards of up to $30,000, the largest of its kind in Hawaii, are being offered for confidential tips that lead to the arrest and conviction of whoever killed three critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals on Molokai and Kauai since November.
Tips on each killing come with individual $10,000 rewards, for a total of $30,000 for all three cases, said Inga Gibson, Hawaii’s state director for the Humane Society of the United States. [...]
Tips on each killing come with individual $10,000 rewards, for a total of $30,000 for all three cases, said Inga Gibson, Hawaii’s state director for the Humane Society of the United States. [...]
Today, Aila [chairman of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources] and Gibson [Hawaii's state director for the Humane Society of the United States] announced a new toll-free, confidential hotline for tips that can lead to the $10,000 and $30,000 rewards — 1-855-DLNR-TIP. [More]
Source: $30,000 in rewards offered for clues on who killed monk seals, Dan Nakaso, Honolulu Star Advertiser, 12 January 2012
9th January, 2012
Recent Publications
 The Aquatic Mammals special edition on Mediterranean and Hawaiian monk seals, whose publication was announced with some excitement in September last year, has finally been made available for public purchase. As far as we can ascertain, those unlucky enough not to have institutional access or public libraries with AA subscriptions, will be paying $12 for each paper they choose to purchase. One author, Giulia Mo (listed below) has, however, asked us to inform interested readers that she will email copies of her paper free of charge to those who request it. Please contact: giulia.mo@isprambiente.it
Abstracts are available via the Aquatic Mammals 37(3): 2011 contents page.
→ Continue reading Aquatic Mammals special edition
8th January, 2012
Media Watch, USA Today, 8 January 2012
No one knows who is killing the seals — a critically endangered species — or why.
But the deaths are coming as the federal government steps up its efforts to protect the seals, leading to simmering resentment among some fishermen who fear new regulations will trample upon their right to fish. The killings are also happening as the misguided notion spreads that the animals aren’t native to Hawaii and don’t belong here.
“It’s really serious. This attitude, this negative attitude toward the seals has overpowered the concern that this is a species that’s going to become extinct,” said Walter Ritte, a Molokai resident and longtime activist who has sounded an alarm about the killings. [More]
Source: Outbreak of endangered seal killings in Hawaii, USA Today, 8 January 2012.
5th January, 2012
Media Watch, KITV, 4 January 2012
A fourth monk seal found dead in the islands in less than three months has state and federal officials appealing for the public’s help to stop the killings. A fisherman reported the latest Hawaiian monk seal found dead two days ago in Pilaa on the Northeast coast of Kauai. It was a juvenile male, who state officials said had suspicious, visible wounds to his head. The injuries are similar to three monk seals found dead on Molokai’s westside in recent weeks.”We hope to stop this trend and the only we can do this is to have people understand that we need to get along and there’s no reason for anyone to go out and kill a monk seal,” said state land director William Aila. [More]
Source: Monk Seal Death On Kauai Under Investigation — Kauai Death Makes Four Dead Seals Since November, KITV, 4 January 2012.
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