Consider a world without the Hawaiian monk seal.

Right now, there are fewer than 1,200 seals remaining despite 20 years of effort to save them. "Like the extinct Caribbean monk seal and the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal, the Hawaiian monk seal is headed to extinction if urgent action is not taken," the National Marine Fisheries Service warned in a study last August.

Urgent action is certainly needed. But the problem is complex, and the cost of fixing it is certain to be costly.

Hawaiian monk seals face a host of threats that defy easy answers: competition for food; loss of haul-out and pupping beaches in the eroding Northwestern Hawaiian Islands; predation by sharks; and interaction with humans.

A workshop this week in Honolulu, organized by the Marine Conservation Biology Institute, will bring together experts from state and federal agencies to address these issues and push for solutions.

One of those solutions is more money. The institute, a non-governmental advocacy group, has lobbied the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to double funding, to $4.1 million, for monk seal research and protection. In addition, the Legislature is considering more state funding to protect seals living in the main Hawaiian islands. And while the amount of funding can be debated, science supports spending more.

Researchers need to improve their techniques for increasing the survival rate of juvenile seals, who starve or are killed by sharks before reaching reproductive age.

As the monk seal population declines in its primary habitat, the Northwestern islands, it's actually increasing in the main Hawaiian islands. In 2001, 56 individuals were counted; in 2007, that number rose to 88. The animals appear healthier and inclined to stay, which means co-existing with recreational fishermen, beachgoers and exposure to disease.

It's clear that saving the endangered seal will require a strong coordinated effort from policymakers and the public alike. It's time to act before it's too late.