The Maui News recently ran a lovely photo of a Hawaiian monk seal on the beach at Olowalu; no reference was made to the tragedy of the four seals killed on Molokai and Kauai in recent weeks… no editorial, no statement from our county or state officials.
Hawaiian monk seals are highly endangered; to lose three out of a population of approximately 1100 is a crisis situation. Having attended public meetings last fall on the monk seals’ recovery plan I can say the level of animosity towards these creatures is staggering. More than one in attendance stated that if they encountered monk seals near their fishing lines they would kill them. Now we see that this wasn’t just talk.
Seals are being killed, victims of a campaign of misinformation brought forward by large commercial fishing interests looking to prevent any expansion of critical habitat for the species. They have made the Hawaiian monk seal a sacrificial lamb for the loss of our fisheries when the real reasons remain unaddressed.
If those so resolutely against monk seals would instead speak out against run-off from large scale agriculture and development near our shores, algae blooms from our wastewater treatment plants, overfishing by large commercial interests, stream diversions, aquarium collecting, introduced species such as roi, and the growing acidification of our oceans, we might be able to convince our county and state administrations that significant changes are needed to again make Hawaiian waters abundant with fish, providing food for us all, seals and humans alike.
We need the community to care about this animal, our official state mammal. We need our local governments to make it clear that violence against this species will be prosecuted to the fullest, and lastly, we need the fishing community to face the reality of the environmental degradation taking place in our waters. Who will we blame when the last seals are gone and there’s still no fish on the line?
Irene Bowie
Executive Director
Maui Tomorrow Foundation, Inc.
55 N. Church St., Ste. A4
Wailuku, HI 96793
808.244.7570
