Service as to what and how data should be analyzed and 
reported. The analysis is on-going and, among other things, 
is expected to provide more reliable information on pup and 
adult survival, growth rates, age at first reproduction, 
pupping intervals, age-specific reproductive rates, reproductive 
behavior, daily and seasonal haul-out patterns, feeding 
habits and food requirements of monk seals. This information 
will be used by the Monk Seal Recovery Team to provide a 
better assessment of the status of the monk seal population 
and actions needed to encourage its recovery. 
Radio-Tagging Monk Seals 
(Cedar Creek Electronics Laboratory, University of Minnesota) 
Better information on the daily and seasonal activity 
patterns and the habitat-use patterns of monk seals is 
needed to improve population estimates, design more effective 
population surveys, and better delineate marine areas that 
are or may be critical to the survival or recovery of the 
Hawaiian monk seal. Radio transmitters and depth-of-dive 
recorders had been used on other pinnipeds to collect this 
kind of information and, in 1978, a group of experts convened 
by the Commission recommended that a pilot study be conducted 
to evaluate the potential utility and harmful effects of 
using such technology on monk seals. Subsequently, the 
National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service planned a pilot "radio-tracking/dive 
profile" study. However, they lacked funds to purchase all 
of the necessary radio tags as well as the requisite technical 
expertise, and the Commission therefore contracted with the 
supplier to provide additional tags and technical assistance. 
The study, completed in 1980, demonstrated that radio tags 
and depth-of-dive recorders can be used to assess the activity 
patterns and habitat-use patterns of monk seals and that, if 
used as in this study, the tags and recorders will not 
jeopardize the well-being of the monk seals to which they 
are attached. The study results are being used by the 
Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Team to determine the potential 
utility of a major tagging effort; the report, being prepared 
by the National Marine Fisheries Service, is expected in 
early 1981. 
Development of a Monk Seal "Die-Off" Response Plan 
(National Marine Fisheries Service) 
In 1978, 50-60 monk seals died on Laysan Island, possibly 
as a result of ciguatoxin poisoning. The National Marine 
Fisheries Service investigated the "die-off" but the investigation 
was hampered by difficulties in obtaining the necessary permits, 
and in assembling and transporting an appropriate research 
