Wildlife officials hope two Hawaiian monk seals that were nearly killed by large fishhooks can completely recover after the hooks were removed from their bodies last week. Meanwhile, officials are looking for a third monk seal whose health might be in danger because of a hooking.
"They’re not out of the woods yet," said Jeff Walters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "We have to accept the possibility that they could die" or will be euthanized if their conditions worsen.
Walters, chief of the Marine Mammal Branch of the Pacific Islands Regional Office at NOAA, said the two seals are in guarded condition and recovering in separate tanks in a private area of Waikiki Aquarium.
Scientists in Hawaii have already counted eight monk seal hooking incidents in the islands this year, including one that killed a 10-month-old male seal in March.
This year’s hookings are on pace to surpass last year’s nine hookings, and researchers are asking for the public’s help to report new incidents and increase the chance of a hooked seal’s survival.
Officials are also asking fishermen for their help in reducing hooking incidents.
So far, only one of the hooking incidents this year has been fatal. A necropsy determined a hook killed a 10-month-old male seal found dead March 5 at Mahaulepu Beach on Kauai, Walters said.
The hook pierced the seal’s esophagus.
The hooked seal that officials are currently looking for was last seen Wednesday with a fishing line coming from her mouth. Walters said the 9-month-old female, known as Kaiwi, might have a hook in her mouth or throat.
Less than a week before, officials had captured Kaiwi to remove a fishhook from the back of her tongue.
Walters said the first three hooking incidents were minor and that the hooks were removed on the beach or just came out.
The two seals still recovering are known as Sharkbite and Kolohe.
Authorities captured Sharkbite on Oahu May 6 and confirmed through X-rays that he had a large hook, several inches long, in his esophagus, Walters said.
Experts performed surgery on Sharkbite at the Honolulu Zoo, cutting into his belly to remove the hook. He was given internal and external stitches and will remain in recovery for at least another week.
Officials are concerned about Sharkbite’s recovery because he’s an older seal, about 28 years old. Seals usually don’t live to be much older than 30.
Sharkbite was one of several male seals that scientists relocated from the Northwest Hawaiian Islands to the main Hawaiian Islands in 1994 to reduce a series of attacks on female and juvenile seals.
The other seal that is recovering, Kolohe, was captured on Kauai and flown by the Coast Guard to Oahu on Wednesday.
Kolohe, a male about 8 years old, apparently had been hooked for several days and was seen floating and acting strangely before someone reported the hooking.
Experts were able to remove a large hook from his throat without surgery Thursday, but he is struggling to recover from an infection and pneumonia.
Walters said there is no clear cause for the spike in hooked seals. There are about 1,100 Hawaiian monk seals, but the population is declining by about 4 percent a year. About 200 of the seals live in the main Hawaiian Islands.
Walters emphasized that fishermen could help prevent future hookings by pulling in their gear if they see a seal nearby, even though that’s a hassle.
Fishermen can also help by calling NOAA’s hot line if they see a seal regularly staying near a fishing spot.
"We want to work with the fishermen to develop techniques to reduce these incidents," he said. "We can work with seals to modify their behavior to keep them away from fishing gear."
Call NOAA’s hot line at 888-256-9840 for any fishing interactions with a seal or if a seal is seen hooked or entangled.
