February 21, 2024 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Assessment and recovery camps in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument are essential to guiding the recovery of endangered Hawaiian monk seals. The completion of the 2023 camp contributes to a proud 40-year conservation science legacy. Throughout August and September, the team conducted a 28-day research mission and established short (16- to 20-day) camps at select locations throughout the monument.
During the 2023 camp, NOAA researchers and partners accomplished much in an effort to recover this endangered species, including:
- Conducting 27 Hawaiian monk seal interventions to improve seal survival
- Documenting 170 pups born in the monument
- Releasing five rehabilitated seals back into the wild
NOAA researchers share their successes and reflections from this important mission and other Hawaiian monk seal monitoring efforts over the past year.
Counting Together—and On One Another
One of the most important parts of researching any species, especially a species with low numbers, is to know exactly how many individuals exist in a population. Without a way to tell individual animals apart, this can be incredibly difficult. When monk seal pups wean from their mothers at a few weeks of age, researchers apply colored tags to their hind flippers—a very important field camp task! Once a monk seal is no longer a pup and more mobile, it is very difficult to apply flipper tags. The tags are engraved with a unique number and letter series that, along with color, can be used to identify that particular seal. Tag colors represent the place in Hawai‘i they were born.
Thanks to the ability to uniquely identify individual monk seals, NOAA researchers have estimated the population size of Hawaiian monk seals to be 1,605 (2022). Annual field camps and tagging are necessary for monitoring population estimates. The past year underscored just how important partners are to this large undertaking. The Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project all contributed to monitoring and tagging efforts throughout the monument. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rescued a seal without a clear path to the ocean due to aging infrastructure at Sand Island, Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll). The Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project team even removed an eel from the nose of a monk seal pup!
Thanks to the ability to uniquely identify individual monk seals, NOAA researchers have estimated the population size of Hawaiian monk seals to be 1,605 (2022). Annual field camps and tagging are necessary for monitoring population estimates. The past year underscored just how important partners are to this large undertaking. The Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project all contributed to monitoring and tagging efforts throughout the monument. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rescued a seal without a clear path to the ocean due to aging infrastructure at Sand Island, Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll). The Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project team even removed an eel from the nose of a monk seal pup!