Population Demographics

The Hawaiian monk seal is one of the world's most endangered seal species, having been hunted almost to extinction in the 19^th century, there has been a serious population decline.

The Hawaiian Monk Seal was researched for over 40 years by the NOAA before a spike in their population was discovered. A couple of years ago during the pandemic, the research efforts for the monk seals were canceled. During those 2 years, the monk seal population grew by about 100. It wasn't until May 2022, there were over 1,500 monk seals counted in their native habitat of the Northern Hawaiian Islands. Now, because of climate change and weather-related disasters, researchers are finding out that the habitat of these cute creatures, is eroding. Some of the islet islands of French Frigate Shoals are disappearing. Whaleskate Island, Trig, and East Island have all washed away. Whaleskate and Trig were lost to erosion and East Island was wiped out by Hurricane Walaka in 2018.

One of their closest relatives, the Caribbean monk seal, went extinct in the 1950s and the Mediterranean monk seal may be headed for the same fate, with only around 600 individuals remaining. Luckily, national marine sanctuaries and marine national monuments play an important role in protecting species like the Hawaiian monk seal.