Hawaiian Monk Seal

The Hawaiian monk seal, with folds of skin reminiscent of a monk’s hood, dives hundreds of feet to feed ––nearly the length of one or two football fields! Found only in the Hawaiian Islands and numbering less than 1,300 individuals, this seal is one of the rarest mammals in the world. The monk seal uses isolated beaches for resting, molting, and rearing its young, and pups need to spend their first six weeks onshore with their mothers. But a rise in sea level due to global warming would flood and wash out many of the beaches on which the seals depend––driving these rare divers even closer to the brink of extinction.

Scientific name: Monachus schauinslandi
IUCN Red List: Endangered
Endangered Species Act List: Endangered
Region: Mid-Pacific, Oceans