HONOLULU (AP) — Two malnourished monk seal pups have been rescued as part of a mission to help preserve the endangered species.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports (http://bit.ly/1dZQ4Cb ) the 14-member crew working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration dropped off the two Hawaiian monk seal pups at an animal hospital in Kona.
The monk seal pups, a male and a female, had been prematurely weaned. The young seals are expected to be nursed back to health.
The research crew has been deployed on five remote islands and will be monitoring and helping to sustain the monk seal population over the next four months.
The Hawaiian monk seals are one of the rarest marine animals in the world. Their population has declined by about 500 in the last decade.