• Recovery Plan for the Hawaiian Monk Seal (August 2007, pdf 1.17MB)
  
  
• Response to Public Comments on the Recovery Plan for the
  Hawaiian Monk Seal (August 2007, pdf 24.5kB)
  
  
• Hawaiian Monk Seal 5-Year Review:  Summary and Evaluation
  (August 2007, 260 kB)

The Hawaiian monk seal population is at its lowest level in recorded history and it is estimated that about 1,200 individuals are alive today. They are distributed predominatntly in six Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) subpopulations at French Frigate Shoals, Laysan and Lisianski Islands, Pearl and Hermes Reef, and Midway and Kure Atoll. Small numbers also occur at Necker, Nihoa, and in the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI).

Photo Credit: Jessica Aschettino

The only complete and systematic surveys for monks seals in the MHI were conducted in 2000 and 2001. NOAA Fisheries collects information on seal sightings reported by a variety of sources. Recently the number of such reports has increased and related database improvement efforts have been underway. The total number of individually identifiable seals documented in this way in 2005 was 77, the current best minimum estimate.

• Food Limitation – A critical threat that is regulating the population growth in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) is food limitation. At French Frigate Shoals, the juvenile survival has declined most dramatically. Because most of the monk seal population occurs in the NWHI, this threat is of highest concern.
• Entanglement – Hawaiian monk seals have one of the highest documented entanglement rates of any pinniped species, and marine debris and derelict fishing gear are chronic forms of pollution affecting the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
  Photos: Hawaiian monk seals caught in fishing net (left) and a cone from a hagfish trap (below).
  PIFSC
  
• Shark Predation - There has been a significant increase in shark predation on monk seal pups born at French Frigate Shoals. Based on field observations, shark predation may also be compromising recovery at Midway and Kure.
• Infectious Diseases - Recent Main Hawaiian Island monk seal deaths have heightened concern about monk seal exposure to pathogens that they have not previously encountered, such as leptospirosis, toxoplasmosis, and West Nile virus, a pathogen that has not yet been identified in Hawaii but is present in 47 other states. The lack of antibodies in monk seals to various viruses makes them extremely vulnerable to potential infection. While the frequency of disease outbreaks may be rare, their potential devastating effects, should they spread throughout the population, makes infectious disease a serious threat.
• Habitat Loss - The loss of terrestrial habitat is a significant issue of concern in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), especially habitat loss due to environmental factors such as storms and sea level rise that could further exacerbate this problem in the future. While some habitat loss (e.g., the subsidence of Whaleskate Island at French Frigate Shoals) has already been observed, sea level rise over the longer term may threaten a large portion of the resting and pupping habitat in the NWHI.
  
  Photo: Monk seals hauled out on diminishing atoll in the French Frigate Shoals.
  PIFSC
  
  
  With the increased number of pups born in the Main Hawaiian Islands, there is also a concern about adequate breeding habitats without the potential for human disturbance at popular beaches that have a high level of human activity.
• Fishery Interactions - Direct and indirect fishery interactions between commercial fisheries and Hawaiian monk seals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) are currently limited and include an unknown portion of the population. Hawaiian monk seals in the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) have been observed with embedded hooks from recreational fishing, the principle fishery interaction threat currently facing monk seals in the MHI, particularly the nearshore "ulua" fishery. NOAA Fisheries has been successful in identifying and de-hooking seals with embedded hooks around the MHI. However this effort does not remedy the interaction problem itself.
  
  Photo: Tagged seal, R023, entangled in lay gill net, October 2006. DB Dunlap
  
  
  A seal was disentangled by recreational divers from a nearshore gillnet in 2002. Another seal was temporarily entangled in a nearshore gillnet in 2005, but escaped unaided. Most recently, a seal pup was found entangled and drowned in a lay gillnet in October 2006. In 2005, there were seven seals found hooked in the MHI. There were also four incidents of hooked seals in 2006, all of which were found on the island of Kauai. Three of the incidents resulted with dehooked seals, and all were immediately released on site. 
• Male Aggression - During the 1980s and early 1990s, the primary identified cause of adult and immature female mortality affecting the recovery potential in the monk seal population was injury and often death caused by multiple male aggression, especially at locations in the at Laysan and Lisianski Islands in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). While this threat tends to be episodic, it is usually limited in geographic area at any given time; and even though the methods for mitigating it have been successful, this is still considered a serious threat. 
• Human Interaction - Monk seals breeding in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) avoid beaches where people have often disturbed them, but sightings of monk seals in the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) have increased, resulting in increased human interactions where tourists and residents can view monk seals hauled out on beaches, thereby creating an increasing concern about harassment of seals.
  
  Photo: Two Juvenile monk seals draw a crowd of beach-goers at Poipu Beach on Kauai. Shawn Farry
  
  
  Recent successful monk seal pupping events on popular MHI beaches have occurred, despite the major management challenges with regards to staff, volunteers, resources, public outreach and collaboration. If the main Hawaiian Island monk seal population grows, disturbance will become a larger management challenge.
• Biotoxins - In 1978, a significant number of Hawaiian monk seals died on Laysan Island, and high levels of ciguatoxin and maitotoxin were detected in the livers of two seals. Subsequent satellite remote sensing in Hawaiian monk seal habitat has indicated the potential impact for dangerous algal blooms which could contain these harmful species. However, biotoxins have not been confirmed as a cause of mortality, and this is considered a relatively less serious threat.
• Vessel Groundings - Monk seals may potentially be injured or killed by vessel groundings that result in the release of hazardous materials, including oil or fuel spills, rotting bait, lost gear that creates entanglement hazards, and human disturbance resulting from a grounding incident. These events are typically episodic and affect only a limited area when they occur. To date, no seal mortalities have been attributed to vessel groundings.
• Contaminants - Hawaiian monk seals are exposed to organochlorines with concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in biological samples. Different contaminants originating from human occupation of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands have been identified in monk seal habitat. However, the effects of these compounds on monk seal health, reproduction and survival are unknown. Levels observed in monk seals are not elevated when compared with other North Pacific pinnipeds.

• Implement Recovery Plan which includes support of local collaborative efforts; comprehensive outreach and education programs focusing on reducing Hawaiian monk seal-human interactions on Main Hawaiian island beaches and with recreational fishers; coordination of Hawaiian monk seal response volunteer groups in the Main Hawaiian Islands; and facilitation of monitoring and response for Hawaiian monk seal pupping events and haulouts.
  

• Keep your pet on a leash at all times in the presence of seals. Seals can be aggressive and have been known to bite dogs.
• When viewing a monk seal on the beach, observe them from at least 150 feet away and limit your observation time to one-half hour.
• Never attempt to swim with or touch a Hawaiian monk seal. They are wild animals and have been known to be aggressive and bite humans.

• Marine Mammal Stranding/Entanglement Hotline: 1-888-256-9840
• Hawaiian Monk Seal Sightings Hotline: (808) 983-2958, (808) 220-7802
  

• Oahu Monk Seal Response Team
• Kauai Monk Seal Conservation Hui

• Marine Mammal Research Program - Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC)
• NOAA Fisheries - Office of Protected Resources - Hawaiian monk seal