New Hope for the Hawaiian Monk Seal?
Hawaii is home to a variety of unique flora and fauna. It is also home to the most endangered seal species in America, the Hawaiian monk seal.
Beginning in the early nineteenth century, monk seals became easy targets, lying defenseless on the beach, their valuable oil and pelts sought by hunters looking for a quick profit. Their population declined quickly, to the point where sealers ceased hunting them because there were not enough seals left to make the trip worthwhile. The damage was done and the monk seal was greatly endangered.
In the early twentieth century, when the United States government declared the Hawaiian Bird Reservation of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a protected area, the monk seals living in that area were indirectly granted some protection and finally began to reproduce and repopulate.
But the peace proved only temporary. The military activities of World War II brought destruction to the seals’ breeding grounds. Once again their population dropped drastically. It has yet to fully recover. Military activity and seal hunters are not the only dangers these “living fossils” face. There are fishermen’s nets, sharks, a lethal toxin called ciguatoxin, and a host of other enemies that have kept the Hawaiian monk seal on the endangered species list. In spite of being protected under an international treaty, two federal laws, state laws, and the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, the seals still face extinction.
What can be done to save the monk seals? Dash Masland believes she might have an answer. And she is coming to Hawaii to find out.
Masland, a Maine native, has been selected by National Geographic Channel to apply what her father refers to as “poopology” to the study of Hawaiian monk seals. She explained to the Bangor Daily News that “By using DNA, we can get much more sensitive data”. And though it may make some stomachs turn, Masland claims “It’s a high-tech kind of new method” that has the potential to help us better understand the monk seals’ diet, and in turn, implement more effective conservation efforts.
On April 8, 2011, National Geographic Channel showed their support for Masland’s work, declaring the 27-year-old conservation biologist, the winner of their “Expedition Granted” competition. As the winner, Masland received $10,000 to put toward her research expedition in the islands. She will work with scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Hawaii at Manoa to collect and analyze the seal’s scat samples for fish DNA.
With just 1,100 monk seals left and an extremely high mortality rate – pups have a less than one in five chance of survival to adulthood – we need all the help we can get. And who knows? Perhaps “poopology” is the answer to our monk seal conservation questions.
To follow Dash Masland as she searches for DNA clues to the Hawaiian monk seal conservation mystery, you can visit her FaceBook page or her personal website.
