Picture:
This picture shows the Hawaiian Monk Seal tangled in ropes and strings in the
remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Summary:
Hawaiian monk seals are one of the most endangered species in America. Over the
last 50 years the Hawaiian Monk Seal’s population has declined more than 60 percent,
reaching the lowest level in recorded history. In America there are approximately
a total number of 1,100 Hawaiian monk seals still left in the world. At the
current rate of decline the population size will be below 1,000 in the next few
years. Human and environmental factors have contributed to the decline such as,
overfishing, habitat loss, shark predation, entanglement, and food availability.
The Hawaiian monk seals have been on endangered list since 1976. The Hawaiian
monk seals are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered
Species Act; offenders can be fined as much as $50,000 for harming,
harassing or killing the seals. A recovery team for the seals was formed by the NOAA. They are finally starting to move forward with the Hawaiian monk seal recovery plan. In this
recovery plan they want to improve female survival and reduce shark predation.
Reflection/Opinion:
I don’t understand how the Hawaiian monk seal population became so slow without
anyone doing anything. They knew the Hawaiian monk seals were on the endangered
species but decided to do something years later. Since the humans have an
impact on the decline of the hawaiian monk seals I believe the humans should work harder
to make it right. I am surprised that harming one of the seals can be cost
somebody so much money. It really puts it in perspective how serious the NOAA
is about protecting the remaining Hawaiian monk seals.
Question:
1.
Why do you think that a part of the
recovery plan is to improve female monk seals survival?
2.
What do you think would happen if the
Hawaiian Monk Seal became extinct?
3.
Do you think that the laws and acts will
actually improve the Hawaiian Monk Seals population?
I think that if the seals went extinct, the shark population would also decrease because that was a major reason why they were endangered. I think the recovery effort personel should have done somethin sooner, because it may be too late to save them.
ReplyDeletePart of the recovery plan is for female seals because they are the only help for rebuilding the population. They can reproduce more seals so the population can grow.
ReplyDeleteIf the seals became excint then the food web would change and whoever their predator is would decrease in population also.
I think the seals population will increase greatly because of these acts. With all our technology we can prevent predators from eating off these animals and also humans who hunt them.
I think it is outrageous that the poulation got that low before anyone even did anything. The conservation effort came a bit late, but the population has not declined more. It is ashame that we couldnt begin protecting them sooner.
ReplyDeleteIt took them this long to do something about the seals extinction? I don't get why they didn't do something when it became a problem. IF they started to protect them earlier, they wouldn't have to do as much to protect them then as they have to now with a large population decrease.
ReplyDeleteIt's part of the recovery plan to improve femal monk seal because without them they could not reproduce and make the population grow.
ReplyDeleteIf the Hawaiian Monk Seal became extinct, we would be able to see the various effects they would cause in the ecosystem. We would also be able to tell if the seals are a keystone pecies or not.
I think that the laws and act may help at first, but over time peopl will begin to act like they used to. If they started this program earlier on, it would be as big of a problem as it has grown to be.
Opinion: I think it's wierd that the populatin got so low without anyone doing much to harm them. Also, if humans didn't do much to harm them, then it may just be a natural occurance that they are going extinct.
ReplyDelete