$10K offered in latest seal death

Conservation groups have ponied up another $10,000 in reward money for finding the killers of endangered Hawaiian monk seals — the latest a female found Feb. 23 near Eleele, Kauai.

Other recent deaths include two on Molokai in 2011 and two on Kauai, in 2012 and 2014, according to the Conservation Council for Hawai‘i.

The reward is $10,000 for resolving any of the five killings.

“Somebody knows something,” said Margaret Ziegler, executive director of the Conservation Council. “This is awful.”

Officials with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources held a news conference Friday outside its headquarters in Honolulu to call attention to the recent death and to the additional $10,000 now available.

The latest dead seal on Kauai, identified as R4DP, was tagged as a young adult on Kauai in 2008, the state said.

Federal officials said they’re awaiting final laboratory tests of the female monk seal, but a preliminary necropsy indicates she was in good health with no apparent disease.

She is the 11th monk seal since 2009 that has been found dead under suspicious circumstances, the officials said.

Only about 1,400 monk seals are left in the wild.

They’re protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and state law.

Criminal conviction under the Endangered Species Act can result in fines up to $50,000 and imprisonment for a year.

“Hawaiian monk seals are precious to our state both naturally and culturally,” department Chairwoman Suzanne Case said in a prepared statement. “It’s beyond comprehension that anyone could even consider beating or killing one of these rare mammals as they’re resting or sleeping on a beach.”

Anyone with information about these deaths should call the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement hotline at 800-853-1964 or the statewide Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement hotline at 855-DLNR-TIP or 643-DLNR (3567).