The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced the population growth of endangered Hawaiian monk seals at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge with a celebratory post to social media

“The Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge provides a safe and protected home for endangered monk seals to rest, frolic and eat. Thanks to the work of @USFWS, @NOAA and local partners, the population surpassed 1,500 for the first time in more than 20 years! #ESA50,” the U.S. Department of the Interior said in an April 14 tweet.

A Hawaiian monk seal weighs anywhere from 400 to 600 pounds and ranges in length from six to seven feet, and can live 30 years or more, according to a NOAA Fisheries fact sheet. It is considered one of the most endangered seal species in the world, the fact sheet reports. The total population is estimated at 1,570, with 1,200 seals in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands and approximately 400 in the main Hawaiian Islands.

Three rehabilitated Hawaiian monk seals were released recently to the Midway Atoll, NOAA Fisheries reported on April 5. The three malnourished juvenile monk seals were spotted and rescued in July 2022, and spent months "spent months plumping up" at the Marine Mammal Center’s Ke Kai Ola hospital.. The young seals were released at the atoll earlier this month, NOAA Fisheries reports, and "are now off to a good start back in their home range."

In 1988 the Midway Atoll wildlife refuge was established as an “overlay” refuge to protect the area’s significant natural, cultural, and historic resources, according to aU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fact sheet. It remained under the primary jurisdiction of the Navy at the time. When the Naval Air Facility Midway Island closed in 1993, a transition began to change its mission from national defense to wildlife conservation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was given full jurisdiction in 1996.