Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Seals slide towards extinction in Hawaiian reserve

Nature (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Endangered monk seals are dying off despite being in protected areas.

Endangered seals in a marine protected area are heading towards local extinction, even while the same species thrives in an unprotected area nearby. Researchers report in Conservation Letters this week1 that the monk seal population in Hawaii's Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is shrinking by about 4% a year, while a sub-population of monk seals in the main Hawaiian Islands next door — where fishing, development and boat activity are permitted — is increasing by 7% a year.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Gerber, L. R., Estes, J., Gancos, T., Peavey, L. & Read, A. J. Conserv. Lett. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-263X.2011.00197.x (2011).

Download references

Authors
  1. Nicola Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Related links

Related links

Related external links

Hawaiian monk seals, National Geographic

Papahanaumokuakea

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jones, N. Seals slide towards extinction in Hawaiian reserve. Nature (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2011.522

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2011.522

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing