The most critical crisis the HMS face is the floating Fukushima tsunami debris. There should be some sort of Emergency Plan being formulated to remove debris from the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. There is potential for all pupping habitat in the NWHI to be eliminated due to rubbish.

Radioactivity is not the only problem of this floating mat of debris, 1/4 the size of the North Pacific rubbish gyre.

The current “critical habitat area” needs to be changed because the current one is NOT working. Lingle states the obvious, but can’t see the truth — it is not working in the NW Hawaiian Islands because it is not extensive enough & does not actually even contain the main area where the Monk Seals dive for food. Nat Geo researchers have found they don’t hunt in the coral reefs, but in desert-like areas with only rocks & sand, deeper than anyone previously knew, where the seals flip over the occasional rock for the fish hiding beneath them — not someplace any commercial fisherman is going to be doing any fishing unless he doesn’t know what he is doing!!

Only 1 in 5 pups lives to a year old and many of them starve to death. They have started coming to the main Hawaiian Islands because there is more food and their pups can actually grow up. But we have idiots in Hawaii just like in the Medeterranean and 3 of our seals have been killed in the last 1-1/2 weeks. With only about 1,000 seals remaining, we can’t afford to lose ANY of them, certainly not to morons who feel it is their god-given right to kill anything they want for whatever reason they feel like. Their habitat needs to be expanded to protect them in the main islands and to cover the areas where they actually feed.

Contrary to Lingle’s assertions, all the native Hawaiian groups I know support the Monk Seals, as do almost every non-commercial group I have encountered. The only ones I’ve heard speaking out against the seals — and make no mistake, they are against the SEALS themselves — are commercial people who care more about their $$$ than any animal, no matter how threatened. So they will say anything and everything to get their way, no matter how much of a lie or misleading it is.

Let’s face it, our Hawaiian Islands including the NW Hawaiian area covers a lot of space. There are thousands upon thousands of fishermen and commercial companies — and only about 1,000 seals (minus the 3 just killed). How much impact can they have?

And the law applies to the Federal Government; it does not stop people using the beach or oceans, fishing, or other activities. If something requires Federal Government approval, then they can be impacted — but they already are for many other reasons. To pin this all on our seals is an outrage.

Grow up children. The Monk Seals have been here long before we humans and they deserve their home here. Far more than some humans, that’s for sure. :(

Butt out, Lingle, and go back into retirement — where the voters of Hawaii sent you. And for good reason.