A marine mammal center designed to treat injured Hawaiian monk seals is scheduled to break ground this summer on Hawaii island.
The Marine Mammal Center, based in Sausalito, Calif., has raised $1.7 million of the $3 million for the rehabilitation center, spokesman Jim Oswald said.
Oswald said the groundbreaking at the Hawaii Natural Energy Laboratory in Kona will tentatively take place in June, July or August.
Oswald said his organization is still in the fundraising stage but has reached a "wonderful milestone" and has enough money to move forward with the plan.
He said the Hawaiian monk seals, once rehabilitated, will be returned to wherever they originated in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands or main Hawaiian Islands.
The endangered Hawaiian monk seals, now totaling an estimated 950 in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands and 200 in the main Hawaiian Islands, were hunted to near extinction in the late 19th century.
The seals, Monachus schauinslandi, still face major challenges, especially in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, where they often become entangled in debris and face food shortages, Oswald said.
"We’re looking at trying to right a wrong, ultimately," he said.
Federal and state conservation officials, meanwhile, are investigating the death of several Hawaiian monk seals on Molokai and Kauai. Authorities said they died under suspicious circumstances, and groups and individuals have posted a total of $40,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the responsible person or persons.
The deaths come as federal officials are considering expanding the designated habitat for Hawaiian monk seals to the main Hawaiian Islands.
Since 2001 the number of Hawaiian monk seals has been decreasing at a rate of about 4 percent annually in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, but their population has been increasing in the main Hawaiian Islands, scientists say.
Federal endangered species biologist Jean Higgins said the comment period for the critical habitat proposal ended Jan. 6 and that federal officials are reviewing the comments.
Some anglers, barred from fishing in the northwestern chain, say they fear that an expanded critical habitat designation will lead to more Hawaiian monk seals and fewer fish stocks in the main islands.
More information about the hospital for Hawaiian monk seals can be found at marinemammalcenter.org.
