The Hawaiian Monk Seal has been labeled as endangered since 1976. They are also covered by the US Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1973. All of the land and waters associated with the seal are protected from human activities. This is done so by prohibiting or strictly controlling the areas that the seals live in. Focus has really been on keeping juvenile and female seals alive to recover the population to a stable number. There have been many efforts including cleaning up the beaches they lie on, restricting human access to the seals, pup translocations and shark removals to decrease predation, removing and relocating male seals to reduce male aggression towards females and juveniles, and regulating fisheries to reduce contact. Many agencies are even working on a vaccination plan to protect against a potential disease outbreak that could decline the population further. Morbillivirus and West Nile Virus are the diseases the vaccines would protect against, since they have been identified as high risk infectious agents against Hawaiian Monk Seals.

The monk seal, like any other species, plays a huge role in the ecosystem in which it lives. The monk seal is a predator that likes to feed on crustaceans in the oceans surrounding the Hawaii Islands. In other words, it's an important pert of the food chain. If the seal were to go extinct the ecosystem would by devastated and overrun with crustaceans, squid, and fish. The monk seal is one of two species of seal that has existed since the ancient times, so the loss of the Hawaiian Monk Seal would impact the history of the planet. The other seal species to exist since ancient times is the Mediterranean Monk seal, which is mentioned on the evolution tab of this site. The monk seal also has cultural significance to the Hawaiians and the islands. Researchers have looked into Hawaiian culture and found native literature mentioning the monk seal. Overall, without the monk seal the Hawaiian ecosystem would be unstable which can be very disastrous, and its natural history and cultural significance can go unknown by the rest of the world. Every species stands a chance, and so does the Hawaiian Monk Seal!