Contingency Plan for Hawaiian Monk Seal Unusual Mortality Events
Contingency Plan for Hawaiian Monk Seal Unusual Mortality Events
Contingency Plan for Hawaiian Monk Seal Unusual Mortality Events
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5.2 Protocol <strong>for</strong> Initiating <strong>Unusual</strong> Event Designation<br />
As specified in Title IV of the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Act, the NMFS<br />
Pacific Area Protected Species Program Coordinator/Regional Stranding Coordinator (or<br />
his or her designee; e.g., the Leader of MMRP) will contact the NMFS National<br />
MMUME Coordinator if dead or moribund monk seals are observed unexpectedly. This<br />
contact initiates a chain of events illustrated in a flow chart by Dierauf and Gulland<br />
(2001, Fig. 1, p. 75), reprinted as Appendix I-1 and briefly summarized here. The NMFS<br />
National MMUME Coordinator will alert the members of the WGUMMME, who will<br />
require in<strong>for</strong>mation on the background levels of morbidity and mortality to decide<br />
whether or not a MMUME is taking place (data to be obtained from prior records;<br />
Wilkinson, 1996; p. 18). For example, is the age and sex composition, behavior or body<br />
condition of the stranded seals different from what occurs normally in that geographic<br />
location or at that time of year? If the Working Group decides that a MMUME is<br />
occurring, the MMUME National Coordinator in<strong>for</strong>ms the Regional Stranding<br />
Coordinator, designates an On-Site Coordinator (though the Secretary of Commerce), and<br />
transfers responsibility <strong>for</strong> action to the On-Site Coordinator.<br />
6. Notification of Personnel and Agencies<br />
The On-Site Coordinator will notify and mobilize federal, state, and other authorized<br />
<strong>Hawaiian</strong> monk seal rescue and recovery program personnel, possible Response Team<br />
members, and pre-identified laboratories and MOU cooperators promptly. The On-Site<br />
Coordinator also will notify other federal agencies, state wildlife resource agencies, local<br />
government agencies, stranding network personnel and the Leader of the <strong>Monk</strong> <strong>Seal</strong><br />
Recovery Team (see Section 3.2 above). Contact in<strong>for</strong>mation <strong>for</strong> agencies and<br />
individuals to be notified are included in Appendices H-1 through H-4; these lists are<br />
updated at least annually by MMRP. Additional notifications of other stakeholders will<br />
be made as needed; <strong>for</strong> example, the Hawaii Department of Public Health will be notified<br />
if a serious human health hazard exists on one of the MHI (e.g., if a serious zoonotic<br />
disease is identified or suspected).<br />
7. A Tailored Response<br />
7.1 Objectives and General Guidelines<br />
The On-Site Coordinator will work with the WGUMMME to determine and initiate a<br />
course of action to protect the public health and welfare, identify the cause(s) of the event<br />
(including possible contributing factors such as malnutrition or contaminants), minimize<br />
deaths and provide <strong>for</strong> the rehabilitation of individual animals, and determine the impact<br />
of the MMUME on the population (Wilkinson, 1996; Geraci and Lounsbury, 1997;<br />
Dierauf and Gulland, 2001).