Main Hawaiian Islands
Size in Square Kilometres
6,399
Qualifying Species and Criteria
Hawaiian monk seals – Neomonachus schauinslandi
Criterion A; C (1)
Criterion D (2) – Marine Mammal Diversity
Other Marine Mammal Species Documented
Feresa attenuata, Globicephala macrorhynchus, Kogia sima, Megaptera novaeangliae, Mesoplodon densirostris, Peponocephala electra, Pseudorca crassidens, Stenella attenuata, Stenella longirostris, Steno bredanensis, Tursiops truncatus, Ziphius cavirostris
Summary
The Main Hawaiin Islands IMMA holds a significant proportion of the global population of the Endangered Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi). It encompasses 6 discrete areas of critical habitat designated for the Hawaiian monk seal in the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. These areas include preferred pupping and nursing areas, significant haul-out areas, and/or marine foraging areas that are essential for the persistence of the species.
Description of Qualifying Criteria
Criterion A – Species or Population Vulnerability
The Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) is listed as Endangered (EN C1) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Littnan et al. 2015). According to the current IUCN Red List account, within the Monk Seal’s range, two regions are often distinguished: the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, comprising eight subpopulations located on remote atolls and small islands, and the Main Hawaiian Islands, comprising eight large high islands and associated small islets. Seals in the Main Hawaiian Islands are a single subpopulation. The Main Hawaiian Islands IMMA includes specifically the Main Hawaiian Island subpopulation of Hawaiian monk seal.
Criterion B – Distribution and Abundance
Sub-criterion B1 – Small and Resident Populations
Sub-criterion B2 – Aggregations
Criterion C: Key Life Cycle Activities
Sub-criterion C1 – Reproductive Areas
The area provides critically important breeding habitats for the Endangered Hawaiian monk seal, which includes areas for pupping (Littnan et al. 2015).
Sub-criterion C2: Feeding Areas
Sub-criterion C3: Migration Routes
Criterion D – Special Attributes
Sub-criterion D1 – Distinctiveness
Sub-criterion D2 – Diversity
Supporting Information
50 CFR 226. 2015. Endangered and Threatened Species: Final Rulemaking To Revise Critical Habitat for Hawaiian Monk Seals, pp: 50925-50988
Baker, J. D. and Johanos, T. C. 2004. Abundance of the Hawaiian monk seal in the main Hawaiian Islands. Biological Conservation 116: 103-110.
Littnan, C., Harting, A. and Baker, J. 2015. Neomonachus schauinslandi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T13654A45227978. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T13654A45227978.en. Downloaded on 28 March 2017.
National Marine Fisheries Service. 2014. Revision of Critical Habitat for Hawaiian Monk Seals. Final Biological Report. Honolulu, HI, USA. Available at: http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/Library/PRD/Hawaiian%20monk%20seal/Hawaiian_monk_seal_Biological_Report_for_Critical_Habitat.pdf
National Marine Fisheries Service. 2007. Recovery Plan for the Hawaiian Monk Seal. Honolulu, HI, USA. Available at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/recovery/hawaiianmonkseal.pdf.
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