Ni'ihau is it worth it?

[Cacia]

aquamankauai...that him.


and my favorite creature: (Sea Cave drift, 2005)

 

[Grizz]

last I herd they number lower that 1200

 

[AquamanKauai]

Great Questions on the Monk Seal. Gave me an excuse to get online and check some of my facts! All my personal documentation refers to the monk seal as the "most endangered in North America." BTW - as it relates to my previous posts -tne Florida manatee count from my research idicated little more than 2200 in 2001 (3,276 worldwide). Hawaiian monk seals are the only endangered marine mammal species with their entire population in the U.S.

Here's a little of what I know - or learned this morning for anyone interested in this topic.

At last count there are 120 Marine Mammal species identified. 22 of those species are listed as endangered or threatened. 5 are listed as depleted stocks.

Numbers are very hard to come by (especially accurate ones) as you can imagine for a host of reasons. Biologists that I have spoken with have indicated this to me on a number of occasions for various reasons including their hesitation to "ever" verbally indicate possible recovery trends. Whalers in particular would no doubt be jumping at the opportunity to argue more whales = reason to resume/ increase takes.

Anyway, these following numbers are the best I could gather thus far...

The Meditteranean Monk Seal is "FAR MORE" endangered with numbers believed to be between 350-550. It is believed that Greece holds approx 1/2 the remaining population. (The Caribbean Monk Seal was last sighted in 1952 and officially declared extinct in 1996).

The most endangered marine mammal is believed to be the Northern Right Whale with numbers at or around 350 in the north atlantic - and high 10'2 to low 100's in the north pacific.

Other MM's at their population estimates as I could find...

Blue Whales (Once 200,000) now 10,000 or less
Cal. Sea Otter (Once 250,00) now 1925
Steller Sea Lions 40,000 (though pop. has dropped 80% in the last 30 years)

Well, it's a start. Thanks for the post and I hope you make it to Kauai one day to see our monk seals as well. All week we've had sightings on both Lawai and Poipu beaches! They are beautiful and amazing animals for sure. We are very lucky here on Kauai!

Best of island wishes as always

 

[Grizz]

catherine.

the pic you posted look like their at vertical awareness at Ni'ihau..

i saw a show last week form midway the resercher said somthing about 1200 in #
what ever the real count is Im sure you would all agree its far to small a number.

 

[SterlingDiver]

aquamankauai...that him.


and my favorite creature: (Sea Cave drift, 2005)

Fun pictures. It is easy to see why they are your favorites. I dove Maui, Lanai, and Molikini last month, good to very good diving. No penipeds, though.

Thanks for sharing.

Good Diving,

Dave

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

The Meditteranean Monk Seal is "FAR MORE" endangered with numbers believed to be between 350-550. It is believed that Greece holds approx 1/2 the remaining population. (The Caribbean Monk Seal was last sighted in 1952 and officially declared extinct in 1996).

The most endangered marine mammal is believed to be the Northern Right Whale with numbers at or around 350 in the north atlantic - and high 10'2 to low 100's in the north pacific.

Wow...such a sad thing Right Whales. I wonder if we'll lose them entirely...

I had never heard of the Meditteranean Monk Seal or Caribbean Monk Seal. Thanks for the info on those! Very interesting. I assume hunting is responsible for their depletion, too.

Cal. Sea Otter (Once 250,00) now 1925
Steller Sea Lions 40,000 (though pop. has dropped 80% in the last 30 years)

I found these numbers very interesting. I was under the impression that California Sea Otters were making a big comeback. They have even been seen in San Francisco Bay in recent years, which was unheard of for a long time. Of course, they are completely extinct up here on the North Coast, which makes the ab divers happy, so I know they are at very low numbers compared to their historical population, but I did not realize that they were still so rare.

I think California Sea Otters have to get the award for cutest marine mammal. They are so adorable.

What's with the Steller Sea Lions? What is causing them so much damage? That's a big loss.

Thanks again for the info! You are indeed lucky to live on Kauai. I got married there and we didn't want to leave. What a beautiful and unique place. Kauai will always be special for me. It has much aloha.

Gregg

 

[Cacia]

I hear 1200 for hawaiian monk seals.

Those i took off China Wall (Portlock) not far from my home on the ridge.

Grizz, vertical wareness? i will try and remember that...maybe someday i will get there.

Oh, gregg, i hear that the lobster depletion has affected their food source.

 

[urmegr]

The other operation aquaman was talking about was Seasport Divers. We do not take 16 to 20 divers - we max out at 12 for that trip. We also have an observer on board on most trips so we CAN and DO do drift dives. Personally I would not want to make the crossing home on a 6pax boat. Mind you fathom does do a good job, but the boat is small.

 

[BIGG_BUDD]

Ni'ihau = Awesome. Dive with LInda Marsh, she is the owner/operator of Bubbles Below. I just came back, dove with her 11 times last week. We did Ni'ihau and it was absolutley spectacular diving. We dove Vertical Awareness, Ni'ihau Arches, and Pyramid Point. We had a monk seal follow us the entire dive at Pyramid Point. Check out the video from that dive: www.ulichnie.com/video/MissMonkSeal.wmv

Enjoy Kauai, and again, Bubbles Below is the outfitter to take you there....

Later

 

[rgee9]

Great video! Thanks for giving me a taste of what to expect. We are heading with Fathom divers on the 6 pack. Hopefully we will have a great dive with good weather.

Thanks
Rob Gee