Seven Monk Seal Patients Spotted in the Wild

Seeing seven of our previous monk seal patients in the wild, all reported to be in good body condition, is especially exciting not only because it is a measure of success for our work at Ke Kai Ola but also because it reassures us that the species is continuously fighting to make a comeback in tough environmental times.

Thanks to generous supporters and volunteers, the endangered Hawaiian monk seal population now has its own hospital where they get a second chance at life in the wild.

Seven previous patients of The Marine Mammal Center’s Hawaiian monk seal hospital, Ke Kai Ola, have recently been spotted by NOAA researchers in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. This 1,200-mile archipelago of small islands and atolls is home to about 900 of the 1,300 Hawaiian monk seals alive today.

Thanks to supporters like you, since the opening of Ke Kai Ola (The Healing Sea) in 2014, we have rehabilitated and released 23 healthy Hawaiian monk seals. The seven that were recently seen each spent several months at Ke Kai Ola receiving treatment, mainly for malnutrition.

“The Hawaiian monk seal population still has a long way to go to recover, but seeing these past patients that have survived, and can potentially have pups of their own in the future, instills a strong sense of hope,” says Dr. Claire Simeone, the Center’s conservation medicine veterinarian and hospital director at Ke Kai Ola.

Young seals are the most vulnerable animals in the population with relatively few surviving to adulthood. Pups and juvenile seals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands often fall victim to threats like entanglement in ocean trash, changes in the food chain and predation.

Endangered Hawaiian monk seals are also highly sensitive to climate change impacts. Sea-level rise and increased coastal erosion will reduce the haul-out sites they depend on, and may increase shark predation. Increasing sea surface temperatures will limit available prey for marine mammals just as it has on the West Coast of the United States.

You Can Be a Hawaiian Monk Seal Hero

Thanks to our generous donors, the Hawaiian monk seal population has been given a second chance at life in the wild. You can make a real difference for this endangered species and all of the marine mammals in our care by making a gift today.

Make a Gift Today - Mahalo!