HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Four rescued Hawaiian monk seals were recently released back into the wild.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries said the seals received care at the Marine Mammal Center’s Hawaiian monk seal hospital in Ke Kai Ola.

Seals DT46, a male, and DT48, a female, were rescued by NOAA’s seasonal field camp staff in Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, officials said.

Both pups were underweight and had a 1% chance of survival. They were treated for malnourishment and gastrointestinal parasites before being released earlier this month, NOAA said.

Officials said that R419 was also malnourished and had multiple infected injuries along with large and small abscesses on his back.

There were also traumatic injuries on his right front flipper that caused the partial loss of his middle digit and fractures to four of the five digits. He was released after treatment in April, NOAA said.

RS52 was rescued on Maui after being observed losing weight at an alarming rate and treated for malnourishment and gastrointestinal parasites, officials said.

He was released in January and has since been seen around the south shores of Maui and recently on Lanai, where he was born in 2023, NOAA said.

Monk seals in need of help can be reported to NOAA’s Marine Wildfire Hotline at (888) 256-9840.

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This week, the clock runs out on the University of Hawaii’s 2024-25 academic year.

There are final exams through Friday, and the commencement ceremonies on Saturday. Even though most of UH’s spring-semester sports have completed their seasons, there still is more work to be done, such as:

>> All but two of the 11 of the Big West baseball teams will end their regular season by Saturday night. Because of UH’s graduation ceremonies, the Rainbow Warriors have been granted an exemption to play UC San Diego in the finale of a three-game series on Sunday at Les Murakami Stadium.

That could set up a dramatic finish to the chase for berths in the five-team Big West Championship tournament in Fullerton, Calif. UH, UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego are in a fourth-place tie with 14-13 records. Long Beach State completed the regular season at 15-15. The ’Bows probably would need to win two of three against UCSD to secure a tournament berth. If the ’Bows were to win all three and first-place UC Irvine sweeps No. 3 Cal State Fullerton, they would earn the third seed. By winning two of three against CSUF this past weekend, the ’Bows own the tie-breaker over the Titans. The top three seeds earn opening-round byes. This week’s UH-UCSD series is the most meaningful at Les Murakami Stadium in the ’Bows’ 13 seasons of Big West membership.

>> The UH football team entered the recently closed transfer-portal window with a specific to-do list.

They reloaded the defensive line; found replacements for offensive tackle Ka‘ena Decambra, who transferred to Arizona, and center Sergio Muasau, who retired; and after cornerback Caleb Brown entered the portal, signed speedy transfers Semaj “Jet” James (Troy), Zion Allen (Southern Utah, BYU) and Ben Drake (Sierra Community College). The Warriors also added a punter and long-snapper.

The Warriors are seeking to sign a quarterback and two more offensive linemen. Jarret “JJ” Nielsen, a two-sport player who joined in January, has retired from football. He is seeking to play baseball at another school. Nielsen and Luke Weaver split the No. 2 snaps in spring ball. Micah Alejado, Weaver and Caleb Freeman are the only three quarterbacks on the summer roster.

The Warriors are scheduled to begin the summer training program on May 26 under new strength/conditioning coordinator Bobby Thomas. Thomas has worked with several college programs, as well as with the Atlanta Falcons.

>> While navigating the new landscape of the transfer portal and name-image-likeness negotiations last year, the UH basketball team had signed only two transfers by the first week of May 2024. By the same time this year, the Rainbow Warriors signed seven transfers, including 7-foot Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson (Utah State); 6-8 wing Isaac Finlinson (Snow College), the junior college player of the year; and Quandre “Dre” Bullock (South Dakota), a 6-6 wing with a 46-inch vertical jump.

The ’Bows signed guards and wings with size and deep shooting range to complement incumbent point guard Aaron Hunkin-Claytor.

The coaches have aggressively sought another frontcourt player to fill out the recruiting class. But with eight commitments, the ’Bows already are ahead of last year’s recruiting, when some newcomers did not join until August. And there still is a possibility of 6-8 Gytis Nemeiksa, last season’s leading scorer, being in play.

Nemeiksa has tried to make use of an exemption that grants an extra season to a senior student-athlete who played in a non-NCAA league prior to joining an NCAA team. Most of the exemptions are granted to players who competed for a junior college. Nemeiksa, a 6-8 forward from Lithuania, argued that his pre-Xavier experience was at Vytautus Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania, and as an amateur with Zalgiris Kaunas II club.

The NCAA rejected Nemeiksa’s initial argument. But he was told a prerequisite to appealing would be to enter the transfer portal. If his appeal is approved, Nemeiksa could return to UH, transfer or play overseas.

UH’s next step is to build a 2024-25 schedule. Most schools are working to build their rosters and navigate the portal before addressing scheduling.

>> As the search for the next athletic director progresses, UH is nearing completion of the process in hiring a successor to softball coach Bob Coolen. Interim athletic director Lois Manin and associate athletic director Vince Baldemor, who is the softball administrator, have conducted interviews with candidates.

The NCAA’s transfer portal for softball opens on Sunday.

HONOLULU — Hawaii’s land board rejected the Army’s environmental impact statement to retain land on the Big Island used for live-fire training, a vote some Native Hawaiian leaders say reflects a growing distrust of the U.S. military in the islands.

The state Board of Land and Natural Resources voted Friday after members considered voluminous written testimony and listened to hours of oral comments, including from many in the Native Hawaiian community citing environmental destruction and cultural desecration.

The Army calls the Pohakuloa Training Area the “premier” combat training grounds in the Pacific theater for all U.S. ground forces, including the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force.

Board Chair Dawn Chang later called the vote “one of the hardest decisions that I have had to make.”

Chang said the decision was based on the adequacy of the environmental review, and not about the merits of whether the Army should not conduct training in Hawaii. No decision has been made on the Army’s longterm lease request. The Army’s lease for 23,000 acres (9,308 hectares) is set to expire in 2029.

What happens next is up to the Army, Chang said.

The Army, noting that the environmental impact statement was created with community input, said in a statement it was observing a 30-day waiting period. After that, the Army will determine how much land it will seek to retain.

The vote was a “pleasant surprise” to activists who are concerned that military training in Hawaii harms island aquifers, sensitive wildlife and ancient Hawaiian burials, said Healani Sonoda-Pale, a Native Hawaiian activist. It was unexpected because of the military’s economic stronghold on Hawaii, she said.

“Friday’s vote is a real shift,” Sonoda-Pale told The Associated Press Monday. “I think the shift here happened because of the Red Hill spill. The military lost a lot of trust and respect.”

In 2021, jet fuel leaked into the Navy water system serving 93,000 people on and around the Pearl Harbor base. It sickened thousands in military housing and heightened concerns about leaks at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.

The military eventually agreed to drain the tanks, amid state orders and protests from Native Hawaiians and other Hawaii residents worried about the threat posed to Honolulu’s water supply. The tanks sit above an aquifer supplying water to 400,000 people in urban Honolulu.

“U.S. Army Hawai‘i understands and deeply respects the concerns expressed by community members, cultural practitioners, and environmental advocates regarding the Army’s presence and activities at Pōhakuloa Training Area,” Lt. Col. Tim Alvarado, U.S. Army Garrison Pōhakuloa commander, said in a statement. “We recognize that past actions have caused harm and eroded trust, and we continue to seek a balance with consideration for the cultural and environmental significance of this land.”

The U.S. Army is seeking to return nearly 3,300 acres (1,335 hectares) of leased lands back to the state and retain 19,700 acres (7,972 hectares) to sustain training, the Army statement said.

Hawaii’s congressional delegation issued a joint statement saying they “believe there can be a path forward that accounts for the critical importance of Hawaii’s role in our country’s national security strategy and fundamentally respects and responds to the needs of the people of Hawaii.”

In a statement, Gov. Josh Green acknowledged the rejected environmental impact statement presents challenges but doesn’t end the conversation: “This is a time for collaboration, not division, as we seek balanced solutions that honor both our heritage and our future.”