Research and Recovery
Research
Two seals are wary of nearby sharks
- Population monitoring includes study of reproduction, survival, number of seals at each site, sources of injury and death, and behavior.
- Research is conducted on the rate of mobbing and on male dominance.
- Studies examine the role of shark predation on pup survival.
- Research is conducted on the decline of seals at French Frigate Shoals and at other populations.
- Foraging studies are focused on determination of monk seal prey and diving depths and locations.
Recovery Activities
A seal entagled in marine debris
- Undersized female pups from French Frigate Shoals were rehabilitated for release into the wild to enhance populations at Kure and Midway Atolls until 1995.
- Each year, debris is removed from the islands and seals are released from entangling debris.
- Seals have been translocated between atolls to balance adult sex ratios and decrease mobbing.
- Weaned pups have been translocated within French Frigate Shoals to enhance survival.
- In 1991, a Protected Species Zone was established by the Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Council to reduce the probability of direct interactions of seals with fisheries in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
- Since 1998, a multi-agency reef clean-up effort led by NMFS has removed tons of derelict nets, lines and other potential entanglement hazards from coral reef habitats of the Hawaiian monk seal.