Public Comments Invited for Endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal  

Help Them Obtain Larger Habitat 

Hawaiian Monk Seal © Gwen Goodmanlowe

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA) Fisheries Service has proposed 16 areas as critical habitat for the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and is inviting public comment.  

  The proposed revision includes expanding the 1988 critical habitat designation in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and adding new areas throughout the main Hawaiian Islands.

  NOAA's Fisheries Service is accepting comments on the proposed revision through August 31, 2011. Dates, times and venues for public hearings will be available at: website. NOAA's Fisheries Service will review comments and issue a final rule, expected by June 2, 2012.

  To submit comments on the proposed critical habitat revision for the Hawaiian monk seal, use any of the following methods

Submit comments online via Government Comments

Mail or hand deliver written comments to

Regulatory Branch Chief  

Protected Resources Division

NMFS Pacific Islands Region

1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 1110

Honolulu, HI 96814

Attn: Proposed Critical Habitat Revision for the Hawaiian Monk Seal

Email Jonathan Shannon

NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources

Office of Protected Resources  

Outreach Specialist

(301) 427-8404

    Thank you for your input! 

BOSTON, MA  The public was given an unusual opportunity during the last week of April 2011 to view the largest gathering of North Atlantic Right Whales ever seen in one location. The gathering is an annual affair in the spring off Cape Cod, Massachusetts.   

  These right whales are critically endangered with estimates of 350 remaining in the world.Their numbers have not sufficiently recovered since commercial whaling on the species was halted over 70 years ago.  Being hit by boats is of special danger to the these whales.  

  The right whale received its name because it was slow-moving and floated after being killed and became known as the "right whale" to hunt and kill. More than 100 whales were counted in the bay, the largest number recorded in one place, according to the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Massachusetts.  The gathering is an annual affair in the waters off Cape Cod Bay in Massachusetts.    

North Atlantic Right Whale Killed  

by Entanglement in Fishing Lines 

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL   Marine biologists traveled to St. Augustine Beach in late winter 2011 in an attempt to learn what killed a North Atlantic Right Whale that died just offshore.  

   Scientists said they were quite sure that what led to the whale's death were the fishing lines entangled in its mouth and fins. Confirmation was provided by a necropsy performed on the whale at the beach. The whale was 20 percent underweight and had several deep wounds caused by the lines. This led to shark scavenging, which ultimately caused its death. As it lost weight, the whale's immune system became compromised and it likely died from infection.  

  Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had monitored the whale for weeks after it became caught in fishing equipment near Cape Canaveral.

  The 15,000-pound, two-year-old female whale is one of 350 right whales left in the world.  North Atlantic Right Whales, which are extremely endangered, spend the winter off the coast of northeast Florida and southeast Georgia where the female whales have their calves. Her skeleton will be taken to a museum; some body parts will be taken back to labs. Large parts of the whale will be buried at the beach.

   Save The Whales' Stranding Network gives information from all parts of the world for help in reporting stranded animals (whales, dolphins, porpoises, otters, seals, sea lions and turtles).