Community Corner
Endangered Monk Seal Bites US Fish And Wildlife Worker In Hawaii
The worker was bitten on Midway's North Beach in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, officials said.
HONOLULU, HI — A worker with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was bitten by an endangered Hawaiian monk seal while swimming at Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
The incident happened on July 6 on Midway's North Beach in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, agency spokeswoman Megan Nagel said Tuesday.
The employee, who is not being identified, was swimming in a part of the ocean that was open to staff for recreational use. The area was next to a closed beach where a mother monk seal was nursing her pup. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)
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The employee was bitten several times while in the water and is now recovering from her injuries on Midway. Staff access to all beaches remains closed until the end of the pupping season in response to the attack.
Photos credit: Audrey McAvoy, Associated Press