For Hawaiian monk seals, a glimmer of hope

There were years when we despaired about the survival of Hawaiian monk seals. 

 Image: A young seal at Pearl and Hermes Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Credit: NOAA Fisheries Hawaiian monk seal research program.

 

Populations were dropping year after year and nothing seemed to be able to turn that around. Take a look at RaisingIslands' 2008 post on the distressing status of seals at that time.

Now, a little hopeful news. It’s a slow process, but there has been a stabilization, and a tiny, steady increase in numbers for about the last 10 years. Over that time, up from just 1,400 to a current population estimated at about 1,600. 

That’s still only a third of what is believed to have been the stable healthy
population in the Islands, before they ran into humans. 

And right now, that increase is in spite of incidents of people shooting them, their getting hooked on fishing hooks, getting entangled in nets, picking up disease from land animals like dogs and cats, their Northwestern Hawaiian Islands pupping grounds disappearing due to ocean changes, shark attacks, and incidents of attacks by pet dogs. 

NOAA Fisheries in a 2022 release noted that the population had surpassed 1,500 for the first time in some 20 years. 

“From 2013 to 2021, the monk seal population grew at an average rate of 2 percent per year, providing hope for the species’ long-term recovery. Even so, the level required for the species to be down-listed from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act is more than double the current number of monk seals,” the report said. 

It is an enormous task to care for the seal population. Federal officials and volunteers keep close watch on them. Sick and injured seals are regularly removed from the wild for hospital care. 

In November 2024 a malnourished pup from an O`ahu beach was transported to the Marine Mammal Center’s Hawaiian monk seal hospital, Ke Kai Ola, in Kona. 

In October a thin and weak pup from Lana`i and Maui was brought into care. 

In September, three malnourished pups from Pearl and Hermes Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands were transported to the medical facility. 

In June, a Kaua`i pup suffering multiple infectious diseases was hospitalized. He was released back into Kaua’i waters healthy in late November. 

Occasionally, seals are relocated to move them from beaches with threats to beaches where they will be safer. 

The effort involves NOAA Fisheries, the Coast Guard, the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Marine Mammal Center and lots of volunteers. 

Hawaiian monk seals, the most endangered seal species in the world, are found in the Main Hawaiian Islands, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and on Johnston Atoll, which is about 700 miles southwest of O`ahu. 

If you see a seal in trouble, you can email pifsc.monksealsighting@noaa.gov. Or call the Pacific Islands NOAA Marine Wildlife Hotline at (888) 256-9840. 

Here is a NOAA Fisheries resource page for more information about Hawaiian monk seals. 

© Jan TenBruggencate 2024

`Alala, Hawaiian crows, are flying free on Maui

Two ʻalalā. Credit: DLNR

The ʻalalā, the Hawaiian crow, is flying free again in a Hawaiian forest for the first time in years.

Five young birds have been released into the Kīpahulu Forest Reserve on Maui. For now, the birds seem to be staying close to the release site, and will be provided with supplemental food until they develop their foraging skills.

ʻAlalā were once found on several Hawaiian islands, but into the last century, the last place they were located was on Hawai`i Island. A plummeting population prompted an intensive effort to protect the species by bringing a few survivors into captivity.

Surviving birds were moved to Maui, and the captive flock was developed through a joint program of the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project (MFBRP), San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW).

Early efforts to re-release them into the wild on Hawai`i Island ran into problems, like crow predation by the also native `io, or Hawaiian hawk. The `io is not currently found on Maui, so wildlife officials hope the ʻalalā will better thrive there.

It has always been the goal to see ʻalalā return to the wild, not only for the birds, but also for the forest. They can play a key role as seed dispersers.

“We understand how valuable ʻalalā are as a cultural resource as well as a biological resource,” said Martin Frye, research field supervisor for MFBRP. “They play a huge role in Hawaiian culture just as much as they do in the Hawaiian forest. Those two things are linked.”

The five birds selected for the release are young, as young crows are less territorial and are expected to be more gregarious than older birds. They are three males and two juveniles

They will have automated feeder boxes available to them, which will distribute food on demand. The birds are fitted with tiny backpacks that contain Global Positioning System transmitters, which will permit tracking them.

“Our focus is currently on closely monitoring these birds to ensure they have the best opportunities to thrive in their new home in east Maui,” said Chelsie Javar-Salas, supervisory U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist for the Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office.

ʻAlalā are remarkably intelligent birds, but these youngsters are several generations separated from the wild, so they will need to learn to forage and survive.

From a December 4, 2024, press release: “Success for the project relies on how the birds manage to adapt to their new home and can only be measured over time. The field team will continue to monitor the birds into the foreseeable future, supplementing their food and keeping an eye on their health and wellbeing. For now, the birds are free to roam and explore their surroundings, learning and feeling what it means to be wild.”

© Jan TenBruggencate 2024

 

 

NatGeo film series, Tsunami: Race Against Time, debuts Nov. 24

It’s been more than a generation since the last seriously devastating tsunami hit the Hawaiian Islands, and most residents have no memory of the threat.

We should remember—so that next time we can protect ourselves and the people for whom we are responsible.

 

 

The 1946 April Fool’s Day Aleutian quake sent a tsunami that devastated Hawaiian coastlines from Hawai’i Island to Kaua’i. The 1957 Aleutian quake’s tsunami caused significant coastal property damage in the Islands. Both destroyed homes and ran up rivers, taking out bridges. The 1960 Chilean quake's tsunami swept in from another direction. Between them, those three events killed more than 200 Hawai’i residents.

The history of the tsunamis of the Hawaiian Islands is kept by Hilo’s Pacific Tsunami Museum. 

Now a new series of films from National Geographic graphically reminds us of the hazard. It is a warning built on the biggest tsunami disaster in centuries—the Christmas tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which hit December 26, 2004. 

The series is Tsunami: Race Against Time.

That series of waves was generated by one of the largest quakes in recorded history, undersea off Sumatra, Indonesia. It was an unbelievably massive event, calculated at magnitude 9.1. The 1960 Chile quake was larger at 9.5, but did not cause as much death and damage.

I reviewed the film series. It contains footage you’ve never seen, and graphically describes the events that killed more than 200,000 people in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and other islands and coastlines struck by the tsunami.

It contains first person interviews with survivors, heartbreaking stories, often with real-time imagery of those same people. It describes helplessness and heroism in the face of overwhelming conditions. And the desperate effort of Hawai’i’s tsunami scientists to warn the residents of a different ocean.

“The pure carnage of rushing water,” says one orphaned survivor, who lost his parents in the tsunami.

Among the most tragic images are of families holding each other and then torn apart by swirling gray water. Or of the clueless people who wait too long to run, or who watch until the water washes them away. Of bodies drifting in the water. And of wounded people who die in the aftermath, because the disruption was so severe that it was not possible to get medical care in time.

Most of us followed news footage of the quake and its tsunami in the final days of 2004 and early 2005. But that coverage could not provide the perspective of time. Twenty years later, survivors and rescuers and scientists provide that perspective.

Here is how the film’s producers describe their project:

“Marking 20 years since one of the deadliest natural disasters in history which spanned 14 countries, TSUNAMI: RACE AGAINST TIME provides a 360-degree view into the heart-stopping events of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

“The powerful series, from executive producers Tanya Winston and Danny Horan of multi-award-winning Blast Films and directed by Daniel Bogado, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker of Nat Geo’s ‘9/11: One Day in America,’ features personal accounts from survivors, scientists who raced against time to understand the catastrophic disaster and warn the world, journalists who broke the shocking news, and the fearless rescuers who risked their lives to save others.

“Told through harrowing video and gripping stories of survival and courage – some both seen and heard for the first time – the four-part series offers a comprehensive and immersive look at the destructive wave as it surged across the ocean, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.”

The four-part series premieres Nov. 24 at 4 p.m. (Hawai`i time) on National Geographic and streams starting on the 25^th on Disney+ and Hulu.

© Jan TenBruggencate 2024

China fires missile into the South Pacific. Provocation? Islanders are concerned.

China just launched a nuclear-capable ballistic missile smack into the central South Pacific, without bothering to notify the target country.

What the heck could that mean?

The rocket didn’t come near Hawai’i. It was at little over 2,000 miles south. 

But that rocket flew some 7,000 miles from China to its watery landing spot. The distance from Beijing to Hawaii is just 5,000. Beijing to San Francisco is 6,000.

Was the Sept. 25, 2024, missile a message, or, as China suggests, just a routine test? Not routine, certainly, since China hasn’t done anything like this in more than 40 years.

Hawai’i folks have expressed concern about North Korean rockets gaining the capacity to fly as far as the Hawaiian archipelago, but China has long had that capacity, and it demonstrated that with the Sept. 25 launch, which reportedly terminated within the exclusive economic zone of Kiribati, near Caroline Island.

Caroline is an uninhabited atoll south of the Equator, in the Southern Line Islands. French Polynesia is to the south and east of it. The Cook Islands are to the west. U.S.-controlled Jarvis and Palmyra are to the north.

China warned the United States and Russia of the proposed launch, which is required by treaty, but did not bother notifying the target nation, Kiribati. France, New Zealand and Australia also got notice. Japan and French Polynesia did not.

China reported the missile carried a dummy warhead.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies reports that China has three models of nuclear-weapon-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, known as Dongfeng, or East Wind. They are the DF-5, DF-31 and DF-41. Sources differed over whether the Sept. 25 missile was a DF31 or 41.

All three of the missiles have the range to reach either Hawai’i or the West Coast. The DF-5 is silo-based while the other two are transported on mobile carriers, some of which are off-road-capable.

The nation of Kiribati, which has benefitted from Chinese investment in recent years, expressed concern about the launch of a military rocket into its waters. 

French Pacific waters are just south of the rocket landing zone, and officials in Papeete also expressed concern. Radio New Zealand reports that China threw a dinner party in French Polynesia to calm the waters.

The international only news magazine The Diplomat suggested the launch was hardly “routine,” as China suggested. It was the first Chinese launch into international waters since 1980—more than four decades.

That doesn’t mean it was provocative. “Beijing’s motivation for this test launch might not have been the desire to send a political signal, but rather a need for technical data,” The Diplomat wrote.

That said, officials of numerous of the nations of the Pacific have expressed concern. China has been actively courting Pacific nations on the trade front, but until now, it has not suggested that it carries a big stick behind the open pocketbook.

Wrote The Diplomat: 

“China has made progress in winning over some of the Pacific Island states, but has run into resistance from others that fear turning the region into an arena of China-U.S. strategic competition. Firing a nuclear-capable missile into the midst of the islands not only stokes that fear, it positions China as an aggressor.”

© Jan TenBruggencate 2024

As Florida cleans up from two hurricanes, Hawai`i is dodging the bullet. Instead, we get hot and dry.

 Hawai’i has benefitted in recent years from the lack of strong hurricanes, while the folks on the Atlantic coasts have taken multiple hits from big spinning storms.

Tropical storm activity can be cyclical. Sometimes it’s higher in the Atlantic; sometimes in the Pacific. That seesaw pattern has been linked to the El Nino Southern Oscillation, a climate pattern associated with ocean water temperature, air temperature, jet streams and rainfall patterns.

During El Nino events, warm water pushes into the eastern Pacific, and tropical cyclones are more likely and stronger in the Pacific. They call El Nino the warm phase. In La Nina, those waters are cooler, and the storm action moves into the Atlantic. They call it a cool phase.

Currently, we’re in a neutral period, but NOAA says we’re likely moving into another La Nina.

Back in May 2024, the National Weather Service predicted a lower-than-normal hurricane season for the Islands, anticipating that shift from neutral to a cooler phase. In a May 21, 2024 press release, NOAA reported:

“Hurricane season in the central Pacific region is likely to be below average this year,” said Matthew Rosencrans, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, a division of NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS). “A key factor influencing our forecast is the predicted arrival of La Nina this summer, which typically contributes to less tropical cyclone activity across the central Pacific Ocean basin.” 

So far, only Hurricanes Gilma and Hone, at the end of August, came near enough to Hawai’i to cause significant weather events locally.

Meanwhile, the Atlantic has been ravaged, pretty much as predicted.

Nine hurricanes in the Atlantic so far this year, four of them Category 4 or greater. The Eastern U.S. has been hit by two powerful and destructive cyclones in just the past month: Helene and Milton.

And the continuing transition into another La Nina does not bode well for the Atlantic coastlines.

With two months to the end of the hurricane season, Hawai’i can hold its breath with a little hope. A storm might come, but it’s less likely than average.

So what about next year? The latest NOAA El Nino forecast suggests the incoming La Nina will last into the beginning of next year. Beyond that, it’s hard to know what will happen.

But all this is playing against a background of significant climate warming. The World Meteorological Organization notes that El Nino/La Nina is not the only climate driver. It is predicting warmer temperatures over all land areas and all oceans, besides the La Nina-impacted eastern Pacific.

As you’ll see from the World Meteorological Organiation chart below, that cooler weather is south of the Hawaiian Islands. Like most of the rest of the globe, we in the Hawaiian Islands have warmer than normal weather likelihood. 

The WMO also suggests rainfall for Hawai’i will likely be lower than normal from September through November 2024. 

Hotter and drier. Welcome to the future.

© Jan TenBruggencate 2024

 

 

 

Anti-disease forest fungi thrive when they can hear their neighbors: a lesson in diversity

 

There is such value in diversity.

We can take a lesson from a new bit of science that suggests that life performs better when surrounded by its community.

This study found that certain fungi grow faster—many times faster—in an environment that includes sound, even if the species itself does not make sounds.

In the soil, if you were to insert a sensitive microphone, you would pick up the rustle of ants, the scuffling of scurrying beetles, the whisper of larvae, the swooshing of earthworms on their liquid missions and the motion of all the other critters that normally occupy a healthy underground environment.

Fungi don’t have ears, but from this study, clearly they can sense the presence of other creatures by the impacts of their movements, and you could anthropomorphize that they appreciate the company. They certainly behave as if they do.

This particular study was published in the journal Biology Letters. It was reviewed in the New York Times here. 

Wrote Times writer Veronique Greenwood: “Playing sound to Trichoderma harzianum, a green microscopic fungus that defends tree roots from pathogens, led to growth rates seven times as fast as those of fungus grown in the sound of silence. If the laboratory findings can be replicated in nature, then sound could be an unexpected new tool for improving the health of forests, encouraging beneficial microbes to take root and thrive.”

In this case, the researchers just played white noise for the green fungi, and saw dramatic increases in growth compared to the fungi grown in silence.

And here’s a leap.

A totally other piece of science, from the 13 September 2024 issue of Science magazine, expressed concern that the survival of Asian forest trees that contain anti-cancer properties is threatened. People are going into the forest and harvesting the trees to rarity and endangered status.

“Without these trees, cancer patients will lose access to a vital treatment,” wrote authors Gao Chen, Xiang-Hai Cai, Jia Tang, Guillaume Chomicki and Susanne Renner.

In Hawai’i, we have seen the impacts of loss of diversity. If you lose a pollinating bird species, you risk losing the plants they pollinate, and then the insect and fungal communities that rely on those plants. Round and round it goes.

Back to the fungus study, researchers aren’t sure how the fungi are sensing the sound.

“The mechanism responsible for this phenomenon may be fungal mechanoreceptor stimulation and/or potentially a piezoelectric effect; however, further research is required to confirm this hypothesis,” wrote authors Jake M. Robinson, Amy Annells, Christian Cando-Dumancela and Martin F. Breed.

But it was clear that in the presence of sound—all other things being equal—this little green fungus, Trichoderma harzianum, produces lots more biomass and also produces more spores, than in silence.

And they give back to their forest community. These little life forms colonize tree roots, and then protect the trees from disease and rot-causing fungi. They’re so good at it that they’re used as a natural fungicide—applied to leaves, seeds and the soil around valued plants.

Nature’s message is that a diverse community is a far healthier, more productive one.

© Jan TenBruggencate 2024