Hawaiian monk seals prey upon 40 species of marine animals that live in the coral reef ecosystem, including many species of teleost fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans.
The main predator of Hawaiian monk seals is the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), and shark predation is believed to be a significant contributing factor to pup mortality. Although male Hawaiian monk seals are known to commit infanticide, sharks are thought to be the main threat to pup survival. Seals avoid potential predators by nesting on beaches protected by exposed reefs and by feeding and resting in underwater reef caves.
Known Predators:
Hawaiian monk seals exhibit sexual dimorphism, with females being larger than males. Females have an average length of 2.25 m and an average weight of 203 kg. Males have an average length of 2.1 m and an average weight of 169 kg. After birth, Hawaiian monk seals are covered in black lunago (fetal hair), which they molt upon weaning. As juveniles, they are silvery gray, with darker hair on their dorsal side and white hair on their ventral side (National Marine Fisheries Service, 2007). Adults have brown pelage that is slightly gray on their backs and gradually fades to yellow and then white near the ventral surface of the animal. They have broad, flat, and moderately small heads with large black eyes. Unlike other pinnipeds, their nostrils are located on top of their short snout.
Range mass: 169 to 203 kg.
Range length: 2.1 to 2.25 m.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: female larger
Hawaiian monk seals live for 25 to 30 years in the wild. The lifespan of captive individuals is unknown.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 25 years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 30.0 years.
Hawaiian monk seals utilize terrestrial and marine habitats. Sandy beaches are used for parturition, nursing, molting, and resting. The most common parturition sites are on sandy beaches with exposed protective reefs, which limit shark access and provide shelter from large surf (Atonelis et al., 2003). Hawaiian monk seals use protected waters to teach weaned pups to capture prey. They use vegetation along the beach perimeter to protect themselves from ultraviolet rays, wind, and rain, and may also use terrestrial vegetation as shelter while they sleep (Gilmartin, 1983). Hawaiian monk seals spend the majority of their time in the ocean resting, interacting with each other, and foraging. They spend much of their time at depths of about 100 m and less, although some have been observed foraging at depths of over 300 meters (Parish et al., 2002).
Range depth: 300 (high) m.
Average depth: 100 m.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial ; saltwater or marine
Aquatic Biomes: reef
Hawaiian monk seals are endemic to the Hawaiian Archipelago and are found primarily in the tropical waters of the northwestern Hawaiian island chain. Reproductive sites include Kure atoll, Midway atoll, Pearl and Hermes Reef, Lisianski Island, and French frigate shoals. Small populations also occur on Necker and Nihoa and breeding populations have been found on the main Hawaiian islands, also known as the windward Hawaiian Islands (Baker and Johannos, 2004; Antonelis et al., 2003).
Biogeographic Regions: pacific ocean (Native )
Other Geographic Terms: island endemic
Hawaiian monk seals primarily prey upon teleost fishes, which make up roughly 80% of their diet. They appear to prefer fish belonging to the families Muranidae (marine eels), Labridae (wrasses), Holocentridae (squirrelfishes and soldierfishes), Balistidae (triggerfishes) and Scaridae (parrotfishes). Except for the beardfish family (Polymixiidae), which consists of deep sea benthic fishes, all fishes consumed by Hawaiian monk seals are shallow reef fishes (Goodman-Lowe, 1998). The remainder of the their diet consists of cephalopods and crustaceans, with the majority of consumed cephalopods being octopi. Hawaiian monk seals prey upon diurnal and nocturnal species of teleosts and cephalopods; however, juveniles tend to prey more heavily on nocturnal species (Goodman-Lowe, 1998). They primarily forage in shallow reefs (less than 100 m) near their natal atoll and foraging takes place near or at the sea floor. Individuals foraging in precious coral beds (Corallium rubrum) at depths of over 300 m have been recorded, where prey-capture rates may be higher (Parrish et al., 2002).
Animal Foods: fish; mollusks; aquatic crustaceans
Primary Diet: carnivore (Piscivore , Molluscivore )
Currently, Hawaiian monk seals have little to no economic importance. However, during the mid-19th century, when Hawaii was first claimed by the United States, Hawaiian monk seals were killed for their skin, oil, and meat.
Present day Hawaiian monk seal populations represent a fraction of their historical abundances. Although recovery efforts are now underway, the total cost of these efforts over the next 50 years is estimated to be about 385 million dollars. Also, in compliance with the National Marine Fisheries Service recovery plan for Hawaiian monk seals, important feeding and reproductive sites, typically beaches, have been closed to public access. Finally, they occasionally remove fish from commercial trolling lines.
Hawaiian monk seals have been on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s endangered species list since November 23, 1976 and are listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They have been in decline for over 20 years, and as of 2007, only 1200 individuals remained in the wild. Experts estimate that fewer than 1000 individuals will remain in the wild by the end of 2012. Efforts by the National Marine Fisheries Service to stabilize population numbers include keeping tourists away from known reproductive sites, moving aggressive males to new breeding grounds, and implementing a captive care program, which provides females with nutritional supplements. The goal of the captive care program is to increase the survival rate of female juvenile seals, which have an extremely low survival rate. Hawaiian monk seals are vulnerable to introduced disease, inbreeding depression, low genetic diversity, human disturbance, and competition with fisheries. In addition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Endangered Species Act, they are also protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Hawaiian monk seals are intolerant of human disturbance on beaches used for birthing and resting, and pup mortality is often higher at disturbed sites. Hawaiian monk seals began declining in the mid to late 1800’s, when they were hunted for their meat and skins. Currently, populations are declining due to over fishing and seals becoming hooked or entangled in fishing gear (Antonelis et al., 2003).
US Federal List: endangered
CITES: appendix i
State of Michigan List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: critically endangered
Hawaiian monk seals communicate using vocalizations, including those between mothers and nursing pups.
Communication Channels: acoustic
Perception Channels: tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Copulation in Hawaiian monk seals is rarely observed but usually takes place about 1 to 5 km off shore. Although little is known about the reproductive success or the mating system used by these animals, sexual dimorphism in conjunction with open water mating suggests polygyny (Weckerly, 1998). As in other pinnipeds, males likely mount females by biting their backs and grasping them with their foreflippers (Antonelis et al., 2003).
Mating System: polygynous
Hawaiian monk seals are monestrous and give birth to a single pup each year during an extended birthing season, which begins in March, peaks in April, and ends in August (Boness et al., 1998). Females leave the ocean to give birth on beaches close to their most recent breeding site. Birthing takes place after an 11-month gestation period, which contains a 3-month period of delayed implantation. Females are solely responsible for rearing offspring, which takes about 40 days. While rearing their pups, females fast and may lose hundreds of pounds. Pups weigh between 14 and 17 kg at birth and between 50 and 100 kg at weaning (National Marine Fisheries Service, 2007). Females wean pups by suddenly abandoning them and returning to the ocean, after which they wait 3 to 4 weeks before mating again (Boness et al., 1998). Hawaiian monk seals are one of three pinniped species that commonly foster pups, the other two being grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris; Boness et al., 1998). Both genders reach sexual maturity between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. Pups weaned at higher weights generally have a greater chance of survival and become sexually mature at an earlier age.
Breeding interval: Hawaiian monk seals breed once yearly
Breeding season: February to March
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average gestation period: 11 months.
Range weaning age: 5 to 6 weeks.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 5 to 10 years.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 5 (low) years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 10 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; delayed implantation
Average birth mass: 17000 g.
Average gestation period: 335 days.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Females are the only sex that invest in pup development. Pup fostering, which only occurs in 2 other pinniped species (gray seals, Halichoerus grypus and northern elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris), takes place when females rear their young in close proximity to one another and may occur when pups are separated from their mothers. Most females tolerate nursing attempts by orphaned pups. Although pup fostering appears to result in little to no reward for adopting mothers, fostered pups clearly benefit from their foster mother's care (Boness et al., 1998).
Parental Investment: female parental care ; pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female)
The Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) is an endangered species of earless seal in the family Phocidae that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.[2]
The Hawaiian monk seal is one of two extant monk seal species; the other is the Mediterranean monk seal. A third species, the Caribbean monk seal, is extinct.[3]
The Hawaiian monk seal is the only seal native to Hawaii, and, along with the Hawaiian hoary bat, is one of only two mammals endemic to the islands.[4]
N. schauinslandi is a conservation reliant endangered species. The small population of about 1,400 individuals is threatened by human encroachment, very low levels of genetic variation, entanglement in fishing nets, marine debris, disease, and past commercial hunting for skins.[5][6] There are many methods of conservation biology when it comes to endangered species; translocation, captive care, habitat cleanup, and educating the public about the Hawaiian monk seal are some of the methods that can be employed.[7][8][9]
Known to native Hawaiians as ʻIlio-holo-i-ka-uaua, or "dog that runs in rough water", its scientific name is from Hugo Schauinsland, a German scientist who discovered a skull on Laysan Island in 1899.[10] Its common name comes from short hairs on its head, said to resemble a monk.[3] It is the official state mammal of Hawaii.[11]
Its grey coat, white belly, and slender physique distinguish them from their cousin, the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina).[3] The monk seal's physique is ideal for hunting its prey: fish, lobster, octopus and squid in deep water coral beds.[12] When it is not hunting and eating, it generally basks on the sandy beaches and volcanic rock of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.[13]
The Hawaiian monk seal is part of the family Phocidae, being named so for its characteristic lack of external ears and inability to rotate its hind flippers under the body.[14] The Hawaiian monk seal has a relatively small, flat head with large black eyes, eight pairs of teeth, and short snouts with the nostril on top of the snout and vibrissae on each side.[3] The nostrils are small vertical slits which close when the seal dives underwater. Additionally, their slender, torpedo-shaped body and hind flippers allow them to be very agile swimmers.[15]
Adult males are 140 to 180 kilograms (300 to 400 pounds) in weight and 2.1 metres (7 feet) in length while adult females tend to be, on average, slightly larger, at 180 to 270 kg (400 to 600 lb) and 2.4 m (8 ft) in length. When monk seal pups are born, they average 14 to 18 kg (30 to 40 lb) and 1 m (40 in) in length. As they nurse for approximately six weeks, they grow considerably, eventually weighing between 70 and 90 kg (150 and 200 lb) by the time they are weaned, while the mother loses up to 140 kg (300 lb).
Monk seals, like elephant seals, shed their hair and the outer layer of their skin in an annual catastrophic molt. During the most active period of the molt, about 10 days for the Hawaiian monk seal,[16] the seal remains on the beach. The hair, generally dark gray on the dorsal side and lighter silver ventrally, gradually changes color through the year with exposure to atmospheric conditions. Sunlight and seawater cause the dark gray to become brown and the light silver to become yellow-brown, while long periods of time spent in the water can also promote algae growth, giving many seals a green tinge. The juvenile coat of the monk seal, manifest in a molt by the time a pup is weaned is silver-gray; pups are born with black pelage. Many Hawaiian monk seals sport scars from shark attacks or entanglements with fishing gear. Maximum life expectancy is 25 to 30 years.
The monk seals are members of the Phocidae. In an influential 1977 paper, Repenning and Ray proposed, based on certain unspecialized features, that they were the most primitive living seals.[17] However, this idea has since been entirely superseded.
In an effort to inform the public and conserve the seals, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service developed a historical timeline to demonstrate that the Hawaiian islands has been home to the seals for millions of years and that the seals belong there. Evidence points to monk seals migrating to Hawaii between 4–11 million years ago (mya) through an open water passage between North and South America called the Central American Seaway. The Isthmus of Panama closed the Seaway approximately 3 million years ago.[18]
Berta and Sumich ask how this species came to the Hawaiian Islands when its closest relatives are on the other side of the world in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea.[19] The species may have evolved in the Pacific or Atlantic, but in either case, came to Hawaii long before the first Polynesians.
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The majority of the Hawaiian monk seal population can be found around the Northwest Hawaiian Islands but a small and growing population lives around the main Hawaiian Islands.[13] These seals spend two-thirds of their time at sea. Monk seals spend much of their time foraging in deeper water outside of shallow lagoon reefs at sub-photic depths of 300 metres (160 fathoms) or more.[20][21] Hawaiian monk seals breed and haul-out on sand, corals, and volcanic rock; sandy beaches are more commonly used for pupping.[13] Due to the immense distance separating the Hawaiian Islands from other land masses capable of supporting the Hawaiian monk seal, its habitat is limited to the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiian monk seals mainly prey on reef dwelling bony fish, but they also prey on cephalopods, and crustaceans.[12] Both juveniles and sub-adults prey more on smaller octopus species, such as Octopus leteus and O. hawaiiensis, nocturnal octopus species, and eels than the adult Hawaiian monk seals,[12] while adult seals feed mostly on larger octopus species such as O. cyanea. Hawaiian monk seals have a broad and diverse diet due to foraging plasticity which allows them to be opportunistic predators that feed on a wide variety of available prey.[12]
Hawaiian monk seals can hold their breath for up to 20 minutes and dive more than 550 m (1,800 ft); however, they usually dive an average of 6 minutes to depths of less than 60 m (200 ft) to forage at the seafloor.[22]
Tiger sharks, great white sharks and Galapagos sharks are the main predators of the Hawaiian monk seal.[23]
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Hawaiian monk seals mate in the water during their breeding season, which occurs between June and August.[3] Females reach maturity at age four and give birth to one pup a year. The fetus takes nine months to develop, with birth occurring between March and June. Pups start around 16 kg (35 lb) and are about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long.[24]
The pups are born on beaches and nursed for about six weeks. The mother does not eat or leave the pup while nursing. After that time, the mother deserts the pup, leaving it on its own, and returns to the sea to forage for the first time since the pup's arrival.[15]
Most seals are found on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.[25]
The Hawaiian monk seal is endangered,[26] although its cousin species, the Mediterranean monk seal (M. monachus), is even rarer, and the even more closely related Caribbean monk seal (N. tropicalis), last sighted in the 1950s, was officially declared extinct in June 2008.[27] In 2010, it was estimated that only 1100 individuals remained. A later estimate in 2016, which included a more complete survey of small populations, was approximately 1400 individuals.[5]
Seals nearly disappeared from the main islands, but the population has begun to recover. The growing population there was approximately 150 as of 2004[25] and 300 as of 2016.[5] Individuals have been sighted in surf breaks and on beaches in Kauaʻi, Niʻihau and Maui. Community volunteers on Oʻahu have made many anecdotal blog reports of sightings around the island since 2008. In early June 2010, two seals hauled out on Oʻahu's popular Waikiki beach. Seals have hauled out at O'ahu's Turtle Bay,[28] and again beached at Waikiki on March 4, 2011, by the Moana Hotel. Yet another adult came ashore for a rest next to the breakwater in Kapiolani Park Waikiki on the morning of December 11, 2012, after first being spotted traveling west along the reef break from the Aquarium side of the Park. On June 29, 2017 monk seal #RH58 popularly known as "Rocky" gave birth to a pup on Kaimana Beach fronting Kapiolani park. Despite the fact Kaimana beach is popular and busy, Rocky has been routinely hauling out on this beach for several years.[29] In 2006, twelve pups were born in the main islands, rising to thirteen in 2007, and eighteen in 2008. As of 2008 43 pups had been counted in the main islands.[30]
The Hawaiian monk seal was officially designated as an endangered species on November 23, 1976, and is now protected by the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. It is illegal to kill, capture or harass a Hawaiian monk seal. Even with these protections, human activity along Hawaii's fragile coastlines (and in the world at large) still provides many stressors.[31]
Natural factors threatening the Hawaiian monk seal include low juvenile survival rates, reduction of habitat/prey associated with environmental changes, increased male aggression, and subsequent skewed gender ratios.[32] Anthropogenic or human impacts include hunting (during the 1800s and 1900s) and the resulting small gene pool, continuing human disturbance, entanglement in marine debris, and fishery interactions.[32]
Low juvenile survival rates continue to threaten the species. High juvenile mortality is due to starvation and marine debris entanglement.[8] Another contributor to the low juvenile survival rates is predation from sharks, including tiger sharks. Most mature monk seals bear scars from shark encounters, and many such attacks have been observed.[32]
Reduced prey abundance can lead to starvation, with one cause being reduction in habitat associated with environmental change.[32] Habitat is shrinking due to erosion in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, reducing the size of islands/beaches.[32] Lobsters, the seals' preferred food other than fish, have been overfished. Competition from other predators such as sharks, jacks, and barracudas leaves little for developing pups. The creation of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument which encloses these islands may expand food supplies.
Mobbing is a practice among the seals that involves multiple males attacking one female in mating attempts. Mobbing is responsible for many deaths, especially to females.[33]
Mobbing leaves the targeted individual with wounds that increase vulnerability to sepsis, killing the victim via infection.[33] Smaller populations were more likely to experience mobbing as a result of the higher male/female ratio and male aggression. Unbalanced sex-ratios were more likely to occur in slow-growing populations.[34][35]
Postmortem examinations of some seal carcasses revealed gastric ulcerations caused by parasites.[36] Some of the infectious diseases that pose a threat to the Hawaiian monk seal populations include distemper viruses, West Nile Virus, Leptospira spp., and Toxoplasma gondii.[37] Protozoal-related mortality,[38] specifically due to toxoplasmosis, are becoming a great threat to the recovery of the endangered Hawaiian monk seal and other native Hawaiian marine life.
In the nineteenth century, large numbers of seals were killed by whalers and sealers for meat, oil and skin.[39] U.S. military forces hunted them during World War II, while occupying Laysan Island and Midway.[39]
The Hawaiian monk seal has the lowest level of genetic variability among the 18 pinniped species.[8] This low genetic variability was allegedly due to a population bottleneck caused by intense hunting in the 19th century.[8] This limited genetic variability reduces the species ability to adapt to environmental pressures and limits natural selection, thus increasing their risk of extinction.[8] Given the monk seal's small population, the effects of disease could be disastrous.
Monk seals can be affected by the toxoplasmosis pathogen in cat feces that enters the ocean in polluted runoff and wastewater, a new phenomenon.[40] Since 2001, toxoplasmosis has killed at least eleven seals.[41] Other human-introduced pathogens, including leptospirosis, have infected monk seals.[40]
Human disturbances have had immense effects on the populations of the Hawaiian monk seal. Monk seals tend to avoid beaches where they are disturbed; after continual disturbance the seal may completely abandon the beach, thus reducing its habitat size, subsequently limiting population growth. For instance, large beach crowds and beach structures limit the seal's habitat.[7][32][40] Although the WWII military bases in the northwestern islands were closed, minimal human activities can be enough to disturb the species.[32]
Marine fisheries can potentially interact with monk seals via direct and indirect relationships. Directly the seal can become snared by fishing equipment, entangled in discarded debris, and even feed on fish refuse.[32] Although international law prohibits the intentional discarding of debris from ships at sea, entanglement still results in mortality because the seals get trapped in unintentional marine debris such as fishing nets and cannot maneuver or even reach the surface to breathe.[8] Monk seals have one of the highest documented rates of entanglement of any pinniped species.[32]
In 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt created the Hawaiian Islands Reservation that included the Northwest Hawaiian islands. The Reservation later became the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge (HINWR) and moved under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).[32] Throughout the 1980s, the National Marine Fisheries Service completed various versions of an Environmental Impact Statement that designated the Northwest Hawaiian Islands as a critical habitat for the Hawaiian monk seal. The designation prohibited lobster fishing in waters less than 18 metres (10 fathoms) in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands and within 37 kilometres (20 nautical miles) of Laysan Island. The National Marine Fisheries Service designated all beach areas, lagoon waters, and ocean waters out to a depth of 18 m (10 fathoms) (later 37 m or 20 fathoms) around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, except for one of the Midway group, Sand Island. In 2006, a Presidential Proclamation established the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which incorporated the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve, the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, and the Battle of Midway National Memorial, thus creating the largest marine protected area in the world and affording the Hawaiian monk seal further protection.[42]
NOAA cultivated a network of volunteers to protect the seals while they bask or bear and nurse their young. NOAA is funding considerable research on seal population dynamics and health in conjunction with the Marine Mammal Center.
From NOAA, several programs and networks were formed to help the Hawaiian monk seal. Community programs such as PIRO have helped to improve community standards for the Hawaiian monk seal. The program also creates networks with the Native Hawaiians on the island to network more people in the fight for conservation of the seals. The Marine Mammal Response Network (MMRN) is partnered with NOAA and several other government agencies that deal with land and marine wildlife.[43]
The Recovery Plan for the Hawaiian Monk Seal identifies public outreach and education as a key action for promoting the conservation of the Hawaiian monk seal and its habitat.[42]
To raise awareness of the species' plight, on June 11, 2008, a state law designated the Hawaiian monk seal as Hawaii's official State Mammal .[44]
The task is to identify a manner of alleviation that is possible, cost-effective, and likely to maximize the organic return (in terms of growth potential) until much time has passed and natural conditions allow scientists to observe the effects.[32]
One key natural factor affecting the seal populations is the male-biased sex-ratio, which results in increased aggressive behaviors such as mobbing.[34] These aggressive behaviors decrease the number of females in the population. Two programs effectively aid female survival rates.
A headstarting project began in 1981, collecting and tagging female pups after weaning and placing them in a large, enclosed water and beach area with food and lacking disturbances.[45] The female pups remain during the summer months, leaving at roughly age three to seven months.
Another project began in 1984 at French Frigate Shoals. It collected severely underweight female pups, placed them in protective care, and fed them. The pups were relocated to Kure Atoll and released as yearlings.[45]
Some habitats are better suited to increase survival probability, making relocation a popular and promising method.[9] Although no direct links between infectious diseases and seal mortality rates have been found, unidentified infectious diseases could prove detrimental to relocation strategies.[46] Identification and mitigation of these and other possible factors limiting population growth represent ongoing challenges and are the primary objectives of the Hawaiian monk seal conservation and recovery effort.[36]
It is also important to consider the mothers who nurse their pups. Seal milk is very rich in nutrients, allowing pups to gain weight rapidly. With the rich milk from the mother, the pup is more likely to quadruple its initial weight before weaning. The mother seal also loses a tremendous amount of weight while nursing.[47]
In 2011, the National Marine Fisheries Service issued a controversial draft programmatic environmental impact statement intended to improve protections for the monk seal.[48] The plan includes:
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) The Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) is an endangered species of earless seal in the family Phocidae that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.
The Hawaiian monk seal is one of two extant monk seal species; the other is the Mediterranean monk seal. A third species, the Caribbean monk seal, is extinct.
The Hawaiian monk seal is the only seal native to Hawaii, and, along with the Hawaiian hoary bat, is one of only two mammals endemic to the islands.
N. schauinslandi is a conservation reliant endangered species. The small population of about 1,400 individuals is threatened by human encroachment, very low levels of genetic variation, entanglement in fishing nets, marine debris, disease, and past commercial hunting for skins. There are many methods of conservation biology when it comes to endangered species; translocation, captive care, habitat cleanup, and educating the public about the Hawaiian monk seal are some of the methods that can be employed.
