A standard trip to the beach becomes an extraordinary one if you’re lucky enough to encounter a Hawaiian monk seal. Although it’s not an entirely uncommon occurrence, these gargantuan, doe-eyed creatures are, sadly, the last tropical seal species—its cousin, the Caribbean monk seal, became extinct in 2008— and with less than 1,500 on the planet, it’s more important than ever to protect one of the islands’ only native aquatic animals.

This is where Hawai‘i Marine Animal Response comes in. Established in 2016, the nonprofit—along with its president Jon Gelman—have made it a mission to educate the public, mitigate threats to the ocean ecosystem and its inhabitants, and save animals in need.

“Thousands of times each year, our outreach, education, field response, interventions, rescues and stranding support actions help us move towards our vision of Hawai‘i’s ocean shared in sustainable harmony by humans and marine-protected animals, such as Hawaiian monk seals, sea turtles, dolphins, whales and seabirds,” says Gelman.

Its core team is made up of less than a dozen people, including a wildlife veterinarian and Native Hawaiians who know the land and sea better than anyone. However, operations wouldn’t be as impactful without its dedicated volunteers, who are at the heart of everything HMAR accomplishes.

This—alongside partnerships with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- ministration, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the state—creates the support that allows HMAR to execute six imperative programs, comprising field support and outreach, education and engagement, marine debris, rescue and stranding response, marine operations and operations support.

Over the course of five years, HMAR— which focuses its efforts on O‘ahu and Moloka‘i—has grown in leaps and bounds, reaching more than 230,000 people with face-to-face outreach and education, providing response and support in the field over 13,000 times, and performing nearly 1,400 rescues and interventions for animals that need help, including the Hawaiian monk seal.

From Ni‘ihau to Hawai‘i Island, about 250-300 seals call our shared beaches and waterways home. The rest of the population, meanwhile, lives on islets and atolls northwest of here.

But it wasn’t always this way. Hawaiian monk seal numbers saw a critical decline in the 19th century when the mammals were hunted to near extinction. In the following 100 or so years, further impacts of human presence, environment damage and ecosystem changes contributed to its demise.

According to HMAR, seals are now threatened by fishery interactions (hook- ing and entanglement), human-caused trauma and toxoplasmosis, a disease initiated by feral cats.

This is why beach-bound seals are usually accompanied with signage, ropes and a volunteer who’s happy to share fun facts about it.

These guardians of a sort are a part of HMAR’s Hawaiian monk seal field response activity program, and have completed online and field training. They are the ones on-call when a seal hauls itself to shore.

“Our volunteers travel to the location, document the animal’s condition and behaviors, take updated photographs, identify the specific seals, educate the public about the animals and—if the location is busy with humans—establish a perimeter around the animal to minimize seal disturbance and to support public safety,” explains Gelman.

“After the volunteer’s shift is over, they submit an online report so that all Hawaiian monk seal response activity is documented to assist government partners engaged in endangered species research and management. If conditions arise that require an animal intervention or rescue, specially trained HMAR volunteers or staff are dispatched to the scene.”

To donate time or money or to learn more about the organization, Gelman encourages the public to visit HMAR’s website (h-mar.org), where one can find a trove of information on the marine species it serves, key threats that impact their survival, as well as actions you can take to help.

“Please give these animals plenty of space and respect, both on land and in the water,” Gelman adds. “For Hawaiian monk seals, that’s 50 feet—150 feet if you encounter a monk seal mom with its pup—10 feet for sea turtles, 35 feet for seabirds, 150 feet for dolphins, and 300 feet for humpback whales. Never disturb or cause an interaction with any of these protected species.”

Sightings of Hawaiian monk seals—or any other sea creature of concern—can be reported to the statewide marine wildlife hotline at 888-256-9840.