LIHUE — Though marine scientists are keeping a closer eye on Oahu’s monk seals after three were found dead earlier this month, wildlife officials say they have no reason to think Kauai’s seals are in danger.
“At this point we’re focused on Oahu,” said Michelle Barbieri, wildlife veterinary medical officer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Service Center. “Don’t think, preliminarily, that there’s any reason for folks on other islands to get concerned.”
The first Hawaiian monk seal, RK60, was discovered dead May 15, floating offshore in Kanoehe Bay.
The next day, a female pup was found dead in Laie and on May 17, an adult female that’s believed to be its mother was found dead in Kahuku.
“All of them were female and we feel confident the pup was born dead and belonged to the one female,” Barbieri said. “(That’s) based on how geographically close they were and being found within a day of each other.”
Necropsy showed the third monk seal had been pregnant, further cementing the suspected connection between mother and pup.
Officials conducted examinations to determine cause of death on all three seals and have preliminarily ruled out things like trauma or entanglement in nets, line or fishhooks.
But they still don’t know how the seals died.
“It’ll take several weeks to get initial results back, and after that we’ll cater our investigation based on those results,” Barbieri said. “We’re stepping up our surveillance for Oahu seals and haven’t seen anything unusual, everyone seems to be behaving normally.”
Overall, the Hawaiian monk seal population has had a 2 percent annual growth rage since 2013. In the 2017 Hawaiian Monk Seal Count announced by NOAA in March, the population is at 1,400 seals.
Around 300 of those call the main Hawaiian Islands their home, while the remaining 1,100 cruise around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Poipu Beach on Kauai’s South Shore is a popular place for both seals and people, and has been popular for Hawaiian monk seals since they started returning to Kauai in the 1990s, according to NOAA’s Kauai marine mammal response coordinator Jamie Thompton.
Currently, an average of between three and five seals are reported daily at Poipu as compared to between one and five seals reported over the past few years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
As far as babies, 161 pups were counted in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in 2017 and 34 were counted in the main Hawaiian Islands, and the season is about to start again.
“It’s early in the pupping season and it’s going to be a dynamic number,” Barbieri said. “We’re having more pups born on the Hawaiian Islands every week and it’s really a positive pupping year.”
In order to keep track of the numbers and health of the endangered Hawaiian monk seals, NOAA asks anyone who sees a monk seal to report it on their website. Any stranded or entangled animals should be reported to 1-888-256-9840.
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Jessica Else, environmental reporter, can be reached at 245-0452 or jelse@thegardenisland.com.
