Ocean Watch

Monday, February 16, 1998

Hawaii’s scarce monk seal
could soon be lost forever

HAWAII'S monk seals are in trouble, even more than when they were an endangered species. Now they're a critically endangered species.

The number of Hawaiian monk seals is dropping so low, so quickly, there's a good chance we may soon lose them forever.

"You wouldn't believe the beaches at French Frigate Shoals," a seal worker told me sadly. "They're practically empty now."

That's hard to imagine. When I first visited French Frigate Shoals, the main biological research station of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, in 1989, the beaches were packed with the marine mammals.

Resting monk seals littered the white beaches, their long gray bodies stretched out in the sun like so many driftwood logs.

But these were no logs. A closer look (sometimes with binoculars, sometimes from behind the cover of a bush) revealed living, breathing animals which were fascinating even in their sleep.

Once, I watched a seal cleverly deal with nose mites, a common problem among monk seals. The seal was clearly bothered by the pesky bugs.

Snorting and sneezing, the seal rolled on its back, then onto its stomach, all the while rubbing its irritated nose with its front flippers.

Finally, the seal plunged its entire head into the sand, burrowing down with astonishing efficiency. And there the seal lay, up to its neck in the sand, for several long moments.

When it emerged, white faced and adorable, I swear that seal was smiling.

Apparently, the mites had been killed, or at least subdued, by the sand smothering because in seconds the seal was sleeping peacefully.

Another time, I watched some bold ruddy turnstones (migratory shorebirds common in Hawaii during the winter) drink blood from an injured seal.

The seal was a small female with an open wound on her back about the size of a dinner plate. The wound was not new; clots of blood had formed scabs over the exposed tissue.

This covering, however, did not stop the ruddy turnstones from getting some of the seal's nutritious blood.

About five of the plucky little birds would warily watch the seal, then one at a time, jump onto her back and yank off a scab.

This was painful to the seal, of course, resulting in a rise and a roar. The ruddys flew off but didn't go far. They had a plan.

As soon as the seal settled back down to sleep, the birds hopped over and took turns sipping the blood now dripping from the freshly pecked wound.

It's hard to imagine Hawaii without these magnificent marine mammals, but it could easily happen.

Of the 900 seals at French Frigate Shoals during my 1989 visit, only 400 remain.

And with the pups and young seals dying, that number is sure to continue to drop.

NO one knows exactly why our seals are declining so sharply, but it's likely a combination of food, birth rate, predation and entanglement factors. You can help Hawaii's monk seals by:

Never, ever approaching a seal resting on a beach. Tired seals need to sleep, and molting seals need to keep warm. If you think a seal is injured or dead, watch silently for breathing from a distance, where the seal can't see you. If a seal isn't breathing, call a wildlife agency. Don't go near it for any reason.

Keeping your dog on a leash at all beaches, especially on Oahu's North Shore. Dogs not only frighten seals back into the water but also carry diseases that might be transmitted to seals.

Spreading the word. Many newcomers in Hawaii have never heard of monk seals and don't know they need to give them space. Tell everyone.