HONOLULU (AP) — A record low 105 Hawaiian monk seal pups were born in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands this year, in a worrying sign for a critically endangered species declining at an annual rate of 4 percent, federal scientists said Tuesday.

This year’s births were the lowest since record keeping began three decades ago (the previous low of 119 was marked in 2009) and compares to nearly 200 pups born in the islands in 2002.