Ocean Watch

Hawaiian monk seals have been gracing the water around Blowhole.

A former Hawaii resident wrote that during a recent visit to that area, he and his family were thrilled to see what they thought might be a monk seal "just lazing about in the water." Since these marine mammals are so rare, he asks: "Do you think it could have been a monk seal? Has anyone else informed you of this?"

Yes, to both questions. Another reader wrote that when she and her husband stopped at Blowhole on their way home recently, they saw a couple of sea lions in the water. "It was a wonderful surprise," she writes. "Can you tell me more?"

Both sightings were almost certainly Hawaiian monk seals. I say almost certainly because even though that's the only seal native to Hawaii, nature throws curves.

A Northern elephant seal showed up here recently, and I don't doubt that a lucky California sea lion or two could make it here, too. Wayfaring seals and sea lions are even rarer than monk seals, however, so for the blowhole sightings, I'd bet on the monk seal.

At its current population of around 1,200, the Hawaiian monk seal is the most endangered marine mammal in the United States. But it's not the most endangered monk seal. The Mediterranean monk seal has that dubious distinction, with only about 500 individuals left. And the third of these tropical seals, the Caribbean monk seal, has been extinct since the 1950s.

The demise of all three seals is the result of human predation. Because monk seals are genetically tame, finding and killing them is easy. In 1886, a research team traveled to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula in search of already scarce Caribbean monk seals. Their commentary about the seals' reactions to humans is typical of Hawaiian monk seals (and likely the Mediterranean's), too.

"Upon first approaching them, they appeared to have no dread of the human presence, lazily looking at us, perhaps shifting their position, and then dozing off in a restless sleep."

These researchers went on to kill 49 of these docile seals for scientific purposes, a common practice in those days.

Today, researchers whisper, tiptoe and even crawl in the presence of monk seals to avoid spooking them.

Hawaiian monk seals' main habitat is in the remote Northwest chain, making research difficult. I've worked with seals on these distant islands as a National Marine Fisheries Service volunteer, and just getting there is a major undertaking.

Since the late 1980s, our monk seal population has been declining yearly.

Currently, biologists, veterinarians, geneticists and other specialists are working harder than ever to learn how to help our seals survive. We citizens can do our part by never approaching a resting monk seal and stopping anyone who does. If you have to walk past a seal sleeping on a beach, don't even let it see you.

I drove to Blowhole twice after receiving those seal-sighting e-mails but left disappointed both times. Then Sunday, several friends and I hiked up Makapuu to look for whales. We peered over the cliff, and to everyone's surprise, there was a monk seal.

Like my readers, we were thrilled. I hope that when our children and grandchildren grow up, they, too, will thrill to the sight of monk seals on Oahu's shores.