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Critical seal habitat is being urged for the Hawaiian Islands |
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Written by Jaymes Song, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Friday, 04 July 2008 |
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HONOLULU - Three environmental groups are seeking to expand the critical habitat area for endangered Hawaiian monk seals, including beaches and surrounding waters of the main Hawaiian Islands.
The Centre for Biological Diversity, Ocean Conservancy and KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance say the additional protection is needed to save the mammals as rising sea levels and erosion eat away at beaches in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
A petition was filed Wednesday with U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and James Balsiger, an administrator of fisheries at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
"Prompt designation of these areas as critical habitat is an essential step if the Hawaiian monk seal is to have a future," said the 41-page petition authored by Miyoko Sakashita, an attorney with the San Francisco-based centre.
Hawaiian monk seals are among the most endangered marine mammals in the world, with fewer than 1,200 remaining. Their population is declining at a rate of four per cent annually.
The seals are already protected under the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act and state wildlife laws.
However, expanding the critical habitat designation would help conservation efforts and provide more funding for research and education, Sakashita said.
Also, the habitat area would require consultation with federal authorities for any government action, such as construction, to ensure there is no harm to the habitat or species.
Most seals live in the remote and largely uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, with about 80 to 100 seals in the main Hawaiian Islands.
Food limitation, shark predation, entanglement, disease, habitat loss and disturbance, fisheries interactions and pollution "are driving this already small population to the brink of extinction," the petition said.
"The main Hawaiian Islands, however, provide one of the most promising avenues of recovery for the species," it said.
"Designating the proposed area as critical habitat would provide meaningful protection against many of these threats and would aid in ensuring the continued survival and eventual recovery of the species."
Global warming and sea-level rise are considered an overarching threat to the seals' survival as critical pupping beaches are being lost, the groups said.
That's one reason why seals living in the densely populated main islands are healthier than in the remote lower-lying atolls and small islands.
"They're a lot fatter and their foraging grounds are a lot better," Sakashita said. "(This) is an effort to protect that habitat so that it can be a refuge and hopefully their population will grow."
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