Posted on: Wednesday, October 29, 2003

Hawaiian monk seals getting too close to humans

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer

Hawai'i wildlife officials this week are dealing with two Hawaiian monk seals that have gotten too familiar with humans.

A Big Island seal was moved yesterday to another island, and federal officials are warning Kaua'i residents not to feed an animal that appears to have grown accustomed to handouts.

"Wild animals are better off wild," said Margaret Akamine Dupree, protected species program coordinator with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

A 2-year-old male seal that was born near South Point on the Big Island began approaching humans at Kealakekua Bay recently in a way that's normal for young seals, but which could be fatal to humans. The mock mating behavior could involve injury from bites or death from drowning, she said.

Officials decided to try to remove the 300-pound seal from waters where it was common to find swimmers. A crew moved the seal from Kealakekua back to near its South Point birthplace Oct. 18, but it swam back to Kealakekua within days. Dupree said it was swimming between Kealakekua and Honaunau.

The seal was recaptured yesterday and was taken "to an undisclosed location where there are fewer people and more seals," Dupree said.

On Kaua'i, residents may have started feeding an injured seal, and now that the injury is healed, the seal is showing up at Nawiliwili and Port Allen, begging for food, she said.

In each case, the familiarity between humans and seals severely limits the options of wildlife officials in protecting the animals, Dupree said.