Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 7, 1 July 2009 — Monk seal habitat to expand [ARTICLE]

Monk seal habitat to expand

Federal officials have expanded the critical habitat for 'īlio-holo-i-ka-uaua, the Hawaiian monk seal, from the Northwest Hawaiian Islands down into the main Hawaiian Islands. Environmental groups noticed the seals thriving in the main Hawaiian Islands, and petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to expand the habitat area. Monk seal numbers have been decreasing in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, but growing in the main Hawaiian Islands over the last decade. This is the first expansion of the monk seal's designated critical habitat since it was established in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands in the 1980s. Outside the critical habitat, monk seals are protected from harassment by federal law as an endangered species.