LIHU‘E — For 10 years, fourth-graders across the island have been learning about the critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal due to the dedication of the nonprofit Kaua‘i Monk Seal Watch Program. Some 10,000 students have participated in the program, which
LIHU‘E — For 10 years, fourth-graders across the island have been learning about the critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal due to the dedication of the nonprofit Kaua‘i Monk Seal Watch Program.
Some 10,000 students have participated in the program, which illustrates the important role the marine mammal plays in Hawai‘i’s natural ecosystem. The curriculum dispels the many myths currently associated with the species, according to the nonprofit’s projects coordinator, Timothy Robinson.
“We have a unique situation with monk seals,” he said, noting that nowhere else does such a critically endangered species come into daily contact with people.
This is precisely why it is so important to reach out to the kids at an early age so they will learn to respect Hawai‘i’s creatures, Robinson said.
“Our kuleana is to take care” of them, said Kaua‘i Monk Seal Watch Program President Ronalee Eckberg, while at the same time remembering “they are wild animals.”
During the months of March and April, each fourth-grade class on the Garden Isle, as well as Moloka‘i, actively participates in the hour-long program which includes a question-and-answer session.
The children and teachers have been very receptive of the yearly class, Eckberg said. “Our mailboxes are stuffed with thank-you letters.”
Many of the former students who have since gone on to college still recognize the group because the program was so memorable to them, Robinson said.
“I think the volunteer outreach to the school kids … certainly helps get the word out about these special endangered species,” said Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau Executive Director Sue Kanoho.
Only an estimated 1,100 monk seals remain throughout the Hawaiian archipelago, but only 115 or so actually traverse the Main Islands, NOAA Marine Mammal Response Coordinator David Schofield said earlier this year.
Arriving in Hawai‘i millions of years before humans, a “large seal kill-off” in the 1800s is likely thought to have devastated their population. Only within the last 20 years have they begun to recover — in small numbers, he said.
“Their declining population is a reflection of the health of our marine ecosystem,” Robinson said. “It says a lot about how we’re treating the ocean.”
Not only does the Kaua‘i Monk Seal Watch Program reach out to children, they educate visitors and adult kama‘aina about the necessity of protecting the Hawaiian monk seal.
“100 percent of every penny goes to the program” to support efforts like television commercials and 30-second radio spots, Eckberg said.
“It’s great community work being done and has been more of a hidden jewel,” Kanoho said.
For more information, visit www.kauaimonkseal.com.
• Coco Zickos, business and environmental writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com.
