5/18/2018 A Sad Day for the Hawaiian Monk Seal Species

It is with a heavy heart I am posting the news that broke today of the loss of three monk seals this week. I heard about this news as it broke and went through utter shock and numbness for the majority of the day.

Over the last 10 years I have experienced many losses of seals, and unfortunately was exposed to the loss soon after my involvement. I know the pain, I know the attachment we feel, I know it's hard when we lose one. I have experienced the loss of older seals that have died from old age and have learned to celebrate them because that is what we want, for them to live a long life. I have experienced the loss of young seals getting caught in nets, or death by an unknown cause, or infection. The young ones are always hard because they haven't had a chance to contribute to the growth of the species. I have experienced the loss through the brutality of a human that has no respect for nature or life, which is most infuriating. BUT... having said that I think today's news has been the most devastating for me, two young child bearing females gone. This loss isn't just two seals it's the loss of generations. It just made the bigger picture much smaller. For this my heart aches, and I can't help but think today is national Endangered Species Day....

The comfort I found today were in these words which meant so much to me " May they be forever in DBs care" (thank you Melody).

Here is the official statement sent by NOAA regarding the deaths.

We are sad to share that there have been three monk seal deaths on Oahu this week, two adult females and one premature pup. The first adult female seal, known as RK60, was found dead floating offshore Tuesday, May 15. This female was seen recently on May 2 and she was reported to be in good condition at that time. We had no health concerns about her leading up to that point and no history of interventions. A post-mortem exam was conducted on Tuesday evening.  On the morning of Wednesday, May 16, a small but fully developed female pup was found in Laie.  On Thursday, May 17, NOAA staff, with support from HMAR and the City & County of Honolulu Department of Public Works, recovered the body of adult female RT10 in Kahuku.  Post-mortem exams have been conducted. Based on the necropsy examination, RT10’s reproductive history and expected pupping date, and location where she was found, we suspect that the dead pup found on Wednesday belonged to RT10. The pup was full-term but small, and preliminary results indicate that it was likely born dead. However, decomposition limited the definitive conclusions that could be drawn from the post-mortem exams but at this time we do not have any reason to associate these deaths with a trend, pattern, or common threat. Follow-up lab analysis will be completed in the coming weeks to attempt to determine a final cause of death, however as with many situations, definitive cause of death may be difficult to ascertain.

While this is an unusual clumping of seal deaths, based on our current information there doesn’t appear to be a significant event occurring. Steps are being taken to fully understand the causes of death and check on welfare of other seals. Is is important that there were no overt signs recent trauma, fish hook ingestion or entanglement. Decomposition limited the definitive conclusions that could be drawn and further lab tests are necessary to try to determine cause of death for each individual seal. Result will not be available for several weeks, however as with many situations, definitive case of death may be difficult to ascertain. Although we have had 3 seal deaths in one week, it is important to not associate these deaths as a trend, pattern or related threat.

Though we do not think these losses were due to related causes, over the next several days we will continue to check in on Oahu’s resident seals.  For all monk seal sightings or strandings we remind the public to please call in reports to 888-256-9840.