Geography
Where are Hawaiian Monk Seals found?
Range & Population
The Monk Seal’s range is limited to the warm, subtropical waters of the Archipelago that surrounds the Hawaiian Islands, stretching a total distance of 1,500 miles (NOAA, n.d.). There are currently two ranges occupied by the Monk Seal within the Hawaiian Archipelago- the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), which has a total of eight subpopulations, and the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI), which is considered to be one population (IUCN, n.d.). The threat of habitat loss in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands has played a significant role on the species, as many of the sites that are subject to rising sea levels and storm erosion are pupping sites. Giving birth, raising their pups and resting are the few occasions that Monk Seal’s will come ashore. Up to half of the breeding beaches on some islands no longer exist according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA (Weber, 2006).
The disappearance of key beaches affects their population size and strength, as well as their overall wellbeing. That being said, the current Monk Seal population is on the decline with around 632 mature individuals (IUCN, n.d.). In the NWHI, researchers have found that less than 200 seal pups are born each year (Weber, 2006). This low birth-rate in combination with other factors, such as survival rate of young seals, causes the population to be at high risk.