(AP) — Federal and state officials in Hawaiʻi are investigating the suspicious deaths of two endangered Hawaiian monk seals on the island of Molokai. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Thursday that the seals were found dead on April 27th on the west side of Molokai. Examinations revealed that both died as a result of human-inflicted trauma. There are only about 1,400 Hawaiian monk seals left in the wild. Killing a monk seal is a federal and state crime. A 3-year-old male monk seal was also found dead last month on Kauai. The cause of that seal’s death remains unknown.
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