A Hawaiian monk seal known as L11 was killed by a gunshot, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday. 

What You Need To Know

  • The young female monk seal was found dead on the south shore of Molokai on Sept. 19, 2021, and a bullet fragment was discovered within the animal during an autopsy conducted by NOAA

  • This is the third intentional killing of a monk seal on Molokai this year, and the seventh on Molokai in the past decade

  • The investigations into the three recent monk seal murders are still active. The other two monk seals intentionally killed in 2021 were males who died from blunt force trauma

  • Anyone with information is asked to send it to NOAA or DOCARE; people who send tips may remain anonymous

“The animal was shot in the head,” said Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement Chief Jason Redulla at a media briefing Tuesday. “That’s how despicable and evil this particular act is.” 

The young female monk seal was found dead on the south shore of Molokai on Sept. 19, 2021, and a bullet fragment was discovered within the animal during a necropsy conducted by NOAA. 

This is the third intentional killing of a monk seal on Molokai this year, and the seventh on Molokai in the past decade. Since 2018, at least four seals in Hawaii have died from apparent gunshots, including one pregnant female, according to NOAA. 

“This is the third intentional killing of a seal on Molokai over the last year,” Redulla said. “Make no mistake, folks, these intentional killings are evil, despicable acts perpetrated against an endangered animal in its own natural habitat. Those responsible must be held accountable.”

The investigations into all three monk seal murders are still active. The other two monk seals intentionally killed in 2021 were males who died from blunt force trauma. The cause of the deaths of four other monk seals over the past two years on Molokai remains inconclusive, but NOAA said they may have also been intentional and law enforcement continues to investigate.

Under state law, "the intentional or knowing taking of a Hawaiian monk seal is punishable as a class C felony," which means the perpetrator can receive up to five years in prison. 

Monk seals are an endangered species, with only about 1,400 remaining in the wild.

Walter Ritte, a Molokai resident and Hawaiian activist, told Spectrum News Hawaii on Thursday that Molokai residents are saying the deaths may be related to a fight between subsistence fishermen who view monk seals as competition for fish. 

“The one that’s going around Molokai is that the seals are interfering with the ability of fishermen to feed their families, so that’s the motivation,” said Ritte. “The seals are like competitors.”

He said people see the seals as “the enemy,” and because so much of monk seal awareness is done by NOAA, a federal organization, he said there is also a pervasive misunderstanding that the seals are “an invasive enemy that was brought here by the federal government.”

“The only ones that are out there educating the community about the truth about these seals is the federal government and people here don't trust the federal government,” said Ritte. 

“They don’t feel any obligations to this animal because it’s an invasive species that is interfering with their ability to feed their families,” Ritte said. “There's a lot of misinformation that is going on in order to justify killing the seals.”

Instead, Ritte said, it’s important to know that monk seals have been in Hawaii since before Hawaiians and the seals are part of Hawaiian culture. 

“The ocean realm belongs to Kanaloa, and Kanaloa is the god of the ocean, and these seals are in that realm,” said Ritte. “Hawaiians are visitors to that realm. We need to respect the animals in that realm.”

He also said it was important to note that the Hawaiian monk seals are endangered. “The mere fact of killing something that's going to make that whole line of animals extinct is something that we need to take into consideration,” said Ritte. 

Ritte said the community on Molokai would work to find out who killed the monk seals by using the “coconut wireless.”

“Sooner or later, you’ll hear names being dropped,” said Ritte.   

Redulla, the DOCARE chief, said they hope people will come forward with information that would lead them to the identity of those responsible. 

“We don’t know who is responsible,” said Redulla, the DOCARE chief, during the media briefing. “Whether it’s a fisherman, whether anything that might be said out there is true, the fact of the matter is we don’t know and that’s why we’re asking people to come forward with information.” 

Redulla noted that unlike when a human dies, seals don’t have records or relatives that can provide information. “These animals cannot speak to us,” said Redulla, which makes the investigation more complicated and challenging.

Anyone with information can contact the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement at 1-800-853-1964, or DOCARE at 1-808-643-DLNR (3567), or they can send information by using the DLNRTip smartphone app. Redulla said that people who send tips may remain anonymous.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated with new information following a Spectrum News interview with Molokai resident and Hawaiian activist Walter Ritte. (Dec. 23, 2021)