Nevada 9-year-old Raises Money for Monk Seals
Bishop Museum scientist and Associate Researcher Ken Longenecker received an unusually heartwarming donation this week to support Bishop Museum ’s research to help preserve monk seal populations in Hawai‘i.
The donor’s name is Nevada Whiteside and she is a fourth-grader living in Reno, Nevada. She spent her summer selling lemonade to thirsty golfers on the fairway next to her home, where temperatures topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Her check for $100 arrived with the wish that the money would be used to help save endangered Hawaiian monk seals.
Nevada learned about the plight of endangered monk seals in Hawai‘i while doing research for her second grade school assignment. She attends Hunter Lake Elementary School in Reno . “She is an excellent writer and loves to read,” says her mother, Christie Whiteside. “When she finds something that interests her, like the monk seals, then she shines.”
After learning that Hawaiian monk seals were endangered, Nevada wanted to do something to help with conservation efforts. Using the Internet, she worked with her mother Christie Whiteside’s supervision to identify an organization that would put her hard-earned lemonade profits into monk seal research. She found Ken Longenecker’s name and contact information on a publication in the Atoll Research Bulletin, a scientific journal dedicated to the life of tropical islands and reefs.
Longenecker’s research focuses on determining what species of fish are eaten by Hawaiian monk seals. This information, along with how often and how many of each is eaten, helps the Protected Species Division of the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (NOAA/NMFS), who commissioned the work, better understand the relationship between food availability and fluctuations in the seal population. Starvation is thought to be one of the biggest threats to this seal, which is only found in Hawai‘i.
Longenecker plans to use Nevada ’s generous donation to help add deep-water fish specimens to the Museum’s Faunal Reference Collection. The prepared skeletons housed in this collection are used by him, and NMFS biologists Maire Cahoon and Mandy Wong to identify fish remains found in seal spew and scat. The research is helping to provide a detailed understanding of the seal’s diet and feeding behavior and these efforts are considered crucial to the recovery and management of the species.
Nevada also helped educate the golfers about the monk seal crisis. With every glass of lemonade sold, she also distributed education materials about the monk seal to her hot and thirsty customers.
“ Nevada ’s generosity and spirit of concern and conservation can be echoed by anyone who cares to become involved,” says Longenecker. “I’m truly amazed that a 9-year-old spent her summer selling lemonade and used the hard-earned profits to help a species living thousands of miles and an ocean away from her home. We commend Nevada for her “can-do” attitude and for educating others about this endangered species. This contribution is a symbol of hope and we are deeply grateful to Nevada for her efforts.”
For more information about Bishop Museum ’s efforts to save Hawaiian monk seals, call (808) 847-3511 or visit www.bishopmuseum.org.
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