HONOLULU — Hawaiian monk seal R5AY, known as Honey Girl, delighted hundreds of people as she rested on and gave birth to at least a dozen pups on O‘ahu and Kaua‘i beaches.
Thursday, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries received notification that she was found dead on a windward O‘ahu beach.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement assisted NOAA in transporting her body to Kualoa Ranch for burial, where a pule (blessing) was performed by a Hawaiian cultural practitioner.
The City & County of Honolulu Roads Maintenance Division and Hawai‘i Marine Mammal Rescue also assisted.
Her cause of death is not apparent.
However, DLNR pointed out in a Friday release that leading causes of deaths for monk seals in the main Hawaiian island is toxoplasmosis, a disease spread by feral cats, and drowning when seals get caught up in illegal lay nets. Toxoplasmosis was the cause of death of two seals so far in 2020.
State Board of Land and Natural Resources Chair Suzanne Case said “We are deeply saddened that Honey Girl, one of the most iconic representatives of her entire endangered native endemic Hawaiian species, will no longer grace beaches around O‘ahu. Her legacy calls for our collective respect and care for all our Hawaiian monk seals.”
Last month, NOAA released a report about population trends of the endangered animal, showing a slow growth rate for the seals. The report said about 1,100 individuals are living in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and about 300 live in the Main Hawaiian Islands.
Of those, 67 individuals were seen on Kaua‘i in 2019, and six seals pupped on Kaua‘i lst year.
The report also cites other threats to seals: embedded fish hooks, habitat loss, and marine debris including fishing nets.
In March 2020, Kaua‘i monk-seal advocates reported the first Kaua‘i pup of the year, PK1, as well as 200 other monk seal sightings that month, down from 264 sightings in February. Kaua‘i seal advocates also reported five of the six pups born in 2019 were seen in March and “continue to thrive,” surmising the sixth is likely on the Napali Coast.
Source: The Garden Island
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