REWARD IS OFFERED IN SHOOTING OF SEALS

http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20090608_reward_is_offered_in_shooting_of_seals.html
The Surfrider Foundation's Kauai chapter is offering a reward -- as yetunspecified -- for information leading to the arrest and conviction ofthose responsible for the shooting death of two Hawaiian monk seals onKauai.
The reward will come from donations to the organization, which so fartotal $8,000 in the aftermath of the deaths, officials said.
"The Surfrider Foundation was outraged that somebody would willfullykill these animals, who posed no real harm to people here on Kauai,"said Surfrider Foundation volunteer Carl Berg. "We felt there was atremendous amount of disrespect for the ocean and the ocean creatures."
According to the foundation, the deaths of the two indigenous mammalswere not isolated incidents since they occurred within a short time span.
On April 19, boogie-boarders found I-19, a 4-year-old Hawaiian monkseal, shot dead in the water at a Kaumakani Beach.
On May 21 the carcass of a pregnant seal was found dead on the NorthShore of Kauai. A necropsy on the seal, known as RKO6, determined thatit had also been shot.
There are fewer than 1,200 of the endangered monk seals left in the world.
"That's what makes this such a crime," said Gordon LaBedz, chairman ofthe Surfrider Foundation's Kauai chapter. "We're doing everything we canto bring these guys back into the community."
For more information, contact Berg at 639-2968 or cberg@pixi.com.

FOUL PLAY BLAMED FOR KAUAI MONK SEAL DEATH

'Foul play' blamed for Kauai monk seal death
Pregnant female called 'important part of the breeding community'
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090523/NEWS14/905230318

By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Staff Writer

A Hawaiian monk seal killed Thursday on Kaua'i's north shore was a
pregnant female who had previously given birth to four pups, according
to NOAA Fisheries.

Witness accounts suggest the 600-pound monk seal, known to NOAA
researchers as RK06, was shot to death, but federal officials would say
only that the endangered marine mammal died as a result of "foul play."
A necropsy on the monk seal was conducted yesterday, and NOAA Fisheries
spokeswoman Wende Goo said no further details were being released
because the killing is under investigation.

"Foul play" by humans also is blamed for the death of a 4-year-old male
monk seal found dead on a Kaua'i beach April 19, according to Goo.

"We don't have enough information to link the two," she said.

The latest monk seal killing is particularly troubling because of the
female's breeding history.

"She was an important part of the breeding community," Goo said.

A Kaua'i couple told The Advertiser they arrived at Pila'a Beach at
about noon Thursday and were standing on a hillside above the beach when
they spotted the female seal resting on the sand. As they began to head
down a trail to the beach, they heard what sounded like four gunshots
and then saw the monk seal scamper toward the ocean.

The couple, who do not want to be identified to protect their safety,
said they saw a man standing next to a white pickup truck but did not
see him with a weapon. When they got to the beach, they talked briefly
with the man, but did not notice anything unusual.

About 45 minutes later, the couple saw the dead seal rolling in the surf
and spotted a "perfect little puncture wound" on the animal's side,
about two feet from its rear flippers.

They reported the incident to state Department of Land and Natural
Resources officials and NOAA authorities.

The Hawaiian monk seal is one of the world's rarest seal species. They
are protected under the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal
Protection Act and state wildlife laws.

In recent years, the marine mammals have been seen more frequently
around the main Hawaiian Islands, where their population has been
estimated at 100. However, their numbers are declining in their favored
habitat in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, where the monk seals are
facing starvation, entanglement in fishing gear, shark predation and
disease.

Scientists estimate the monk seal population in the Northwestern
Hawaiian Islands has dropped from about 1,400 in 1998 to just over 1,000
in 2007.