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Hawaii News

NOAA scientists report good news on monk seals and sea turtles

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Video by Star-Advertiser's Dennis Oda and NOAA
A group of biologists recently returned from months of researching Hawaiian monk seals and sea turtles in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
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COURTESY NOAA

Hawaiian monk seals and green sea turtles were observed by researchers this year at French Frigate Shoals in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, about 1,500 miles northwest of Hawaii. More than a dozen field biologists conducted research on monk seals and sea turtles throughout the Northwestern Hawaii Islands since May.

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COURTESY NOAA

Scientists are awaiting results of DNA tests to confirm whether a pair of pups that recently finished weaning and appear to be about the same age are twins, a rarity among Hawaiian monk seals.

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DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Researchers aboard the NOAA vessel Oscar Elton Sette returned Tuesday from five months studying Hawaiian monk seals and green sea turtles at Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. On the pier at Ford Island in Pearl Harbor with the research vessel in the background are Shawn Farry, left, biological research associate with the Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program; Marylou Staman, research technician; Hope Ronco, biological research associate; Stacie Robinson, chief scientist; and Hector Casanova, commanding officer of the Oscar Elton Sette