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FEDS MUTE ON DEATH OF MONK SEAL AND HER TWO PUPS |
May 6, 2015
While it's contractors and volunteers published sketchy information on the causes attributed to the death of a pregnant monk seal identified as N24 and two of her pups, Mr. Michael Tosatto, Regional Administrator, United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service, Pacific Islands Regional Office, is refusing to provide a response to questions posed by Mr. Carroll Cox of the "CARROLL COX SHOW". (See the attached list of questions).
Mr. Michael Tosatto - Who's taking care of us now? Our fate is sealed with poor management.
The questions were prompted by claims made by employees of the National Marine Fisheries Service, its contractors, and volunteers, that the pregnant monk seal, N24, while in the agency's care, aborted a pup due to being infected with Toxoplasma gondii.
In January, 2015, the National Marine Fisheries Service captured and placed in captivity for a few days several monk seals, including the pregnant seal N24, reportedly to prevent them from being harmed by diesel fuel leaking from a sunken tugboat off the coast of the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
After the seals were returned to the wild members of the public reported seeing N24 at a number of locations on the western side of the island of Oahu "logging", seemingly listless, and not feeding or hauling out.
Sometime during this period the public and NMFS observed that N24 miscarried the pup she was carrying. After the miscarriage was reported to NMFS, NMFS again took her into captivity. She died a short while after that.
While interviewing members of the public and reading various postings on social media sites, we also learned that this same seal miscarried another pup at Malaekahana Beach State Park, possibly during the same time military maneuvers were taking place in the area.
As a result of learning this information I became interested in finding out more details regarding these incidents of mortality. I wrote a letter to Mr. Michael Tosatto, Regional Administrator, NOAA Fisheries Service, Pacific Islands Regional Office, containing several questions regarding this matter. I also invited Mr. Tosatto or his representative to participate in my radio show on May 3, 2015, where I would be discussing this matter. I also requested that he provide answers to my questions regarding the situation. However, I was ignored by Mr. Tosatto and his staff, even after I telephoned his office and spoke to his secretary, inquiring about the status of his reply to my requests.
Subsequently, a day after my scheduled radio show, I spoke to Ms. Wendy Goo, a member of Mr. Tosatto' s staff. I was told that she received my request a day after my requested deadline for a response. I informed Goo that I was still interested in receiving a response to my questions and asked her to formally respond.
A short time later I received an email from Mr. Tosatto stating the following:
Mr. Cox,
I can acknowledge receipt of
your e-mail and I have no comments for you at this time.
Upon receipt of this response, I
requested clarification to the earlier message and received the following:
Mr. Cox,
I am sorry but I have no
comments for you at this time.
I will check with my staff
about a FOIA made by you. You can follow-up on any filed request at http://www.noaa.gov/foia/.
Mr. Tosatto
I am troubled by the statements made by a contractor, Ms. Aliza Milette-Winfree, the
Marine Mammal Stranding Response Coordinator, who states "Having
a definitive cause of death also helps with understanding what role our
handling during the diesel spill may have had on her. At this point it seems
that there was no connection between that event and her illness."
I am still interested in receiving the requested information since I believe the public should be presented with a detailed explanation and a definitive answer as to the cause of death, and if anything was done to determine if the original capture, transport, and return to the wild contributed to the death of the seal and the miscarriage of her pup.
I am also interested in obtaining detailed information on the miscarriage of N24's pup at Malaekahana.
While making these requests I am reminded that the Hawaiian monk seal is a critically endangered species and threatened with extinction. The death of one adult or it's offspring is costly and the poor management of the species cannot and should not be tolerated.
I believe that monk seal N24 miscarried her pup due to stress brought on by her capture and transport to and from the NMFS compound located on Ford Island. I also believe that N24 died from the same causes. Tosatto's refusal to answer questions heightens my level of suspicion and is further supported by the lack of any public statement disclosing that the animal miscarried her pup.
If you are inclined to write to NMFS regarding this matter, I would like to ask that you please share a copy of your letter and any response from Mr. Tosatto, his supervisor Mr. Edward Horton, or NMFS. Mr. Horton's email is edward.horton@noaa.gov.
Thank you,
Carroll