Another tragedy has struck the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The body of Ho’omau Lehua, a beautiful Hawaiian monk seal, was found dead.
The sweet seal pup was only four months old when she died.
Authorities claim the cause of death is unclear, but seals live an average of thirty years in the wild. For an animal to die “naturally” at such a young age is incredibly rare.
To add to the suspicion surrounding her death, this incident comes just a few months after the intentional killing of another Hawaiian monk seal in Oahu. So why are these highly endangered sea mammals repeatedly showing up dead on local shores?
Estimates suggest there are only 1,400 Hawaiian monk seals remaining in the wild, and they have been listed as an endangered species for over fifty years. One of this seal’s closest relatives — the Caribbean monk seal — is already extinct.
NOAA must fully investigate the death of this seal. If this death is in any way related to the last seal killing, authorities will need to step up their protections to ensure no more of these already-endangered seals are killed in the future.
Please sign this petition to urge the NOAA to investigate the death of this seal!
This article by Mathew Davis was first published by OneGreenPlanet on 20 July 2023.
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