Hawai’i Senators Schatz & Hirono Secure $880,000 to Support Hawaiian Monk Seal Conservation

U.S. Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono of Hawai’i announced that they have secured $880,000 in new congressionally directed spending for Ke Kai Ola, The Marine Mammal Center’s conservation program and veterinary hospital in Hawai’i. The funding will support outreach efforts to protect Hawaiian monk seals and promote coastal ecosystem conservation.

“The Marine Mammal Center’s work to protect the endangered Hawaiian monk seal is critical to maintaining the biodiversity of the Hawaiian Archipelago,” said Senator Schatz, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. 

This new earmark funding we helped secure will support their efforts to educate residents and visitors to be better neighbors and conservation partners in the protection of monk seals.

As the number of people on Hawaii's beaches continues to rise, so do incidents of behavior that are harmful to monk seals. The new funding will be used to design, in collaboration with cultural advisors and partners, a data-driven behavior change campaign focused on protecting monk seals and caring for Hawaii’s beautiful coast. 

The campaign will determine and implement the best messaging to inspire people to behave in ways that protect monk seals, such as keeping a safe distance. The resulting campaign communications tools will be provided at no charge to partners and stakeholders across Hawai’i.

“Like so many species native to Hawaii’s ecosystems, monk seals face a myriad of outside threats,” said Senator Hirono. "This funding is important to educating and informing local communities as well as visitors on best practices to not only protect monk seals, but also our broader ocean ecosystem, which is intricately connected to our culture, economy, and way of life in Hawaii."

The Marine Mammal Center, the world’s largest marine mammal hospital, is headquartered in Sausalito, California, and has field offices and facilities on the Island of Hawai’i, in addition to doing outreach in Maui, and other locations throughout California. 

Ke Kai Ola, the Center’s Hawai’i facility, opened in 2014 and is the world’s only dedicated care facility for Hawaiian monk seals. It uses the Center’s decades of experience in marine mammal medicine and health to rescue, rehabilitate, and release monk seals, giving them a second chance at life in their ocean home. 

Researchers estimate that the Center’s conservation efforts, coupled with partners like NOAA, are responsible for about 30 percent of the Hawaiian monk seal population that is alive today. 

“We are extremely grateful to Senators Schatz and Hirono for advocating for our important work and directing federal funds to help us expand our efforts to help Hawaiian monk seals,” said Cecily Majerus, CEO of The Marine Mammal Center. 

With an estimated population of only 1,600, the survival of Hawaiian monk seals depends on all of us doing our part.

This is the second congressionally directed spending that The Marine Mammal Center has received. In 2022, the Center received $500,000 in federal funds, secured by Congressman Jared Huffman (CA), to help the Center provide timely and humane responses to marine mammals that are stranded or in distress along the California coast. 

The funding also helps staff and volunteers provide high quality medical and rehabilitative care to marine mammals that are significantly impacted by vessel strikes, entanglements, and other activities. 

For more information or to set up an interview on this topic, please contact us at media@tmmc.org.