(Monachus schauinslandi) The Hawaiian monk seal was listed as endangered throughout its range on November 23, 1976. Counts have been made at the atolls, islands and reefs where they haul out in the northwest Hawaiian Islands since the late 1950s. NMFS estimates that there are approximately 1400 animals. In 1982, the highest count for all atolls was about 50 percent of the highest counts made in 1957-58. The Hawaiian monk seal is most abundant on Kure Atoll, Pearl and Hermes Reef, Lisianski Island, Laysan Island, French Frigate Shoals, Necker Island and Nihoa Island. This species is vulnerable to human disturbance on pupping and haulout beaches, entanglement in marine debris, incidental take in commercial fisheries, possible die-offs from disease and naturally occurring biotoxins, male mobbing of female seals, and shark predation.

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