Monk

Hawaiian Monk Seal

Monachus schauinslandi

Monk Seals are solitary, both in the water and onshore. Hawaiian Monk Seals are found in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands-very rarely on the shores of Oahu. They come ashore on sandy beaches for rest and recuperation, and perhaps to escape sharks. Respiration on land is controlled by long periods of breath-holding. Hawaiian Monks feed on spiny lobster, eels, flatfish, small reef fish, and octopus. They will eat up to ten percent of their body weight in a single day. They sometimes spend many days at sea before returning to the islands where they will sleep and digest their food. Hawaiian Monk Seals are one of the most endangered species of all seals; protected by the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. It is illegal to kill, capture, or harass a Monk Seal. Their population has declined due to: clubbing to death for meat, oil, and their skin, ciguatera poisoning, sharks, human disturbances, and entanglement in fishing nets and debris. When the Monk Seals become trapped in debris and entangled in nets, they suffocate and drown. As of 2004, only 1200 Seals remained in the wild.

Click

Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument

Largest marine protected area in the world; protects 7,000 species with one quarter being endemic. Monument covers 140,000 sq. miles of reefs, atolls and shallow, and deep Pacific Ocean. Only about 1,300 to 1,400 Hawaiian Monk Seals live in the Hawaiian islands chain today.

How can YOU help?

Photo By Animal Sunshine

Plalmyra Atoll is the second largest of 10 atolls under US jurisdiction-680 acres above water & 15,000 acres of reefs and lagoons. Help the Nature Conservancy protect this area by donations & volunteering.