Critically Endangered Species: The Hawaiian Monk Seal

Seals in Canada have been featured heavily in environmental news throughout the last few years, with environmentalists highlighting the vicious slaughter that is undertaken each year that has caused number of seals to plummet. Unfortunately other species of seal have been left out of the limelight thanks to this atrocity and as such have been left to suffer in their own ways.

One such species is the Hawaiian Monk Seal. Native only to Hawaii and its surrounding waters, this particular monk seal is one of only two left alive in the wild, the other being the Mediterranean monk seal, as the Caribbean monk seal is now extinct, which is an altogether likely outcome for the Hawaiian monk seal species as well as their numbers continue to decline, to the point where they are now categorised as critically endangered.

As the Hawaiian Islands are so far from another suitably sized landmass, the monk seals are forced to exist around the Hawaiian Isles. This makes it very important that the seals are not tampered or interfered with in any way; unfortunately incidental fishing accidents take a heavy toll on the seal population, and their natural predators of Tiger and Galapagos sharks cause issues during breeding season for the pups that are already at risk from pollution, fishing traps and other hazards. Thanks to the limited ecosystem that the seals are exposed to, there is no option for a population ‘boom’ as their environment could not sustain it.

Plans are in place to aid the dwindling monk seal populations and whilst the conservation efforts so far have had a good impact, it will take a long time for the populations to grow to a steady and sustainable level. The real threat lies with the lack of safe places for the seals to breed or give birth uninterrupted, as they are unlikely to return to any beaches where they have previously been disturbed. This decline in safe landmass has had a massive effect on their breeding habits, and if it is not reversed then we can only expect worse things for the monk seal further down the line.