other government agencies that deal with land and marine wildlife. To raise awareness of the species' plight, on June 11, 2008, a state law designated the Hawaiian monk seal as Hawaii's official state mammal. Mediterranean Threats Several causes provoked a dramatic population decrease over time: on one hand, commercial hunting (especially during the Roman Empire and Middle Ages) and during the 20th century, eradication by fishermen, who used to consider it a pest due to the damage the seal causes to fishing nets when it preys on fish caught in them; and on the other hand, coastal urbanization and pollution. Currently, its entire population is estimated to be less than 600 individuals scattered throughout a wide distribution range, which qualifies this species as endangered. Its current very sparse population is one more serious threat to the species, as it only has two key sites that can be deemed viable. One is the Aegean Sea (250–300 animals in Greece, with the largest concentration of animals on Gyaros, and some 100 in Turkey); the other important subpopulation is the Western Saharan portion of Cabo Blanco (around 200 individuals which may support the small, but growing, nucleus in the Desertas Islands – roughly 20 individuals). Some individuals may be using coastal areas along other parts of Western Sahara, such as in Cintra Bay. These two key sites are virtually in the extreme opposites of the species' distribution range, which makes natural population interchange between them impossible. All the other remaining subpopulations are composed of less than 50 mature individuals, many of them being only loose groups of extremely reduced size – often less than five individuals. Consequently, low genetic variability exists. Cabo Blanco, in the Atlantic Ocean, is the largest surviving single population of the species, and the only remaining site that still seems to preserve a colony structure. In the summer of 1997, a disease killed more than 200 animals (two-thirds of its population) within 2 months, extremely compromising the species' viable population. While opinions on the precise causes of this epidemic remain divided, the most likely cause is a morbilivirus or a toxic algae bloom. Conservation In the Aegean Sea, Greece has allocated a large area for the preservation of the Mediterranean monk seal and its habitat. The Greek Alonissos Marine Park, that extends around the Northern Sporades islands, is the main action ground of the Greek MOm organisation. MOm is