Hawaiian monk seal evicted to protect others

HONOLULU -- The biggest threat to the Hawaiian monk seal, the most endangered marine mammal in the United States, may be one of its own: a 400-pound brute named KE18 who killed two other seals and wounded 11 others, most of them helpless pups.

The Hawaiian monk seal is on course to disappear in 50 to 100 years, scientists say. But KE18's propensity for nudging his own species toward extinction put him at an accelerated risk.

But rather than euthanize him, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration captured the 9-year-old seal with plans to use him in research on monk seal eating habits and calorie consumption at the University of California-Santa Cruz, where he'll go later this month. -- AP