A designation of critical habitat for the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal (Monachus schauinslandi) was made last Friday by the National Marine Fisheries Service in response to the petition of three environmental organizations*. Only 1200 monk seals remain in the Hawaiian islands, victims of overfishing, pollution, and disease. Earlier this year NOAA declared another species of monk seal, the Carribbean, extinct. Critical habitat designation in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands already exists (created in 1988), but the new designation will expand that and include habitat in the main island chain for the first time. Monk seals are suffering a rapid population decline (4% per year) in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, but do better around the main islands were food is more plentiful. There, monk seal numbers are slowly increasing. Monk seals tend to use the same haul out beaches where pups are born and raised. A critical habitat designation does not close a beach to public access, but does limit federal activity (including federally funded or authorized) that could harm the animal or its environment. Recent studies show that species enjoying a critical habitat designation are twice as likely to recover as species without the benefit of one. The public is allowed to comment on the designation prior to implementation.*Center for Biological Diversity, The Hawaiian Environmental Alliance and Ocean Conservancy