August 31, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
In a recent study, we found that our Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program’s translocation efforts from 2012 to 2014 proved highly successful. Translocation is “the deliberate movement of organisms from one site for release in another.” It has been broadly applied to manage and conserve terrestrial wildlife since the 1800s. But it is far less common in the marine world, and is rarely applied to marine mammals. However, our team’s efforts buck that trend—about 400 monk seals have been translocated since the 1980s.
Most of these actions were taken to reduce immediate risks associated with the seals’ location:
- Predatory sharks
- Aggressive male seals
- Dangerous interactions with people in the main Hawaiian Islands
Monk Seal Recovery Efforts
These translocations are part of many activities our researchers and staff conduct to improve the survival of seals:
- Removing marine debris from entangled seals and from their habitat
- Removing fishing hooks embedded in seals’ bodies
- Re-uniting mothers and pups who become separated
- Mitigating shark predation
- Rehabilitating injured, sick or starving seals
- Vaccinating seals to prevent disease (distemper) outbreaks
- Conservation translocation
We estimate that up to one-third of the remaining monk seals are alive due to these and other interventions.
