Mediterranean Monk Seal
Encyclopedia
The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) is a pinniped
belonging to the Phocidae family. At some 450-510 (fewer than 600) remaining individuals, it is believed to be the world's second-rarest pinniped (second only to the Saimaa ringed seal
), and one of the most endangered mammals in the world.
It is present in parts of the Mediterranean Sea
and the eastern Atlantic Ocean
waters around the Tropic of Cancer
, as well.
The monk seals' pups are about a meter long and weigh around 15-18 kilograms, their skin being covered by 1-1.5 centimeter-long, dark brown to black hair. On their bellies, there is a white stripe, which differs in color between the two sexes. This hair is replaced after six to eight weeks by the usual short hair adults carry.
Pregnant Mediterranean monk seals typically use inaccessible undersea caves while giving birth, though historical descriptions show they used open beaches until the 18th century. There are eight pairs of teeth in both jaws.
Believed to have the shortest hair of any pinniped, the Mediterranean monk seal fur is black (males) or brown to dark grey (females), with a paler belly, which is close to white in males. The snout is short broad and flat, with very pronounced, long nostrils that face upward, unlike their Hawaiian relative
, which tend to have more forward nostrils. The flippers are relatively short, with small slender claws. Monk seals have two pairs of retractable abdominal teats, unlike most other pinnipeds.
, with males being very territorial where they mate with females. Although there is no breeding season, since births take place year round, there is a peak in October and November. This is also the time when caves are prone to wash out due to high surf or storm surge
, which causes high mortality rates among monk seal pups, especially at the key Cabo Blanco
colony. According to the IUCN species factsheet, "pup survival is low; just under 50% survive their first two months to the onset of their moult, and most mortalities occurred in the first two weeks. Survival of pups born from September to January is 29%. This very low survival rate is associated with mortality caused by severe storms, and high swells and tides, but impoverished genetic variability and inbreeding may also be involved. Pups born during the rest of the year had a survival rate of 71%".
In 2008, lactation was reported in an open beach, the first such record since 1945, which could suggest the seal could begin feeling increasingly safe to return to open beaches for breeding purposes in Cabo Blanco.
Pups make first contact with the water two weeks after their birth, and are weaned at around 18 weeks of age; females caring for pups will go off to feed for an average of nine hours. Most individuals are believed to reach maturity at four years of age. The gestation period lasts close to a year. However, it is believed to be common among monk seals of the Cabo Blanco colony to have a gestation period lasting slightly longer than a year.
and mollusks, primarily octopus
, squid
, and eel
s, up to 3 kg per day. They are known to forage mostly at depths of 150–230 feet, but (as a species) have been observed by the NOAA in a submersible at a known feeding ground at a depth of 500m. Monk seals prefer hunting in wide-open spaces, enabling them to use their speed more effectively. They are successful bottom-feeding hunters, and have been observed (as a species) lifting slabs of rock in search of prey.
Scientists have confirmed this is a recent adaptation, most likely due to the rapid increase in human population, tourism, and industry, which have caused the destruction of animals' habitat. Because of these seals' shy nature and sensitivity to human disturbance, they have slowly adapted to try to avoid contact with humans completely within the last century, and, perhaps, even earlier. The coastal caves are, however, dangerous for newborns, and are causes of major mortality among pups.
's former range extended throughout the Northwest Atlantic Africa, Mediterranean and Black Sea
, coastlines, including all offshore islands of the Mediterranean, and into the Atlantic and its islands: Canary, Madeira
, Ilhas desertas, Porto Santo... as far west as the Azores
. Vagrants
could be found as far south as Gambia and the Cape Verde
islands, and as far north as continental Portugal and Atlantic France.
Several causes have 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.
The species has gone extinct in the Sea of Marmara
due to pollution and heavy ship traffic from the Dardanelles
and the Bosporus
. In addition, the last report of a seal in the Black Sea
dates to the late 1990s.
Nowadays, its entire population is estimated to be less than 600 individuals scattered throughout a wide distribution range, which qualifies this species as Critically Endangered. Its current very sparse population is one more serious threat to the species, as it only has two key sites which can be deemed viable. One is the Aegean Sea
(250-300 in Greece and some 100 in Turkey) and the other is the Western Sahara
n portion of Cabo Blanco
(some 130 individuals which may support the small, but growing, nucleus in the Desertas Islands
–approximately 20 individuals).
These two key sites are virtually in the extreme opposites of the species' distribution range, which makes natural population interchange between these two key sites 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 5 individuals.
These other remaining populations are in Madeira
, with 30 to 35 individuals, and the Desertas Islands
(both in the Atlantic Ocean) and southwestern Turkey
and the Ionian Sea
(both in the eastern Mediterranean). The species status is virtually moribund in the western Mediterranean, which still holds tiny Moroccan
and Algeria
n populations, associated with rare sightings of vagrants in the Balearic Islands
, Sardinia
, and other western Mediterranean locations.
or, more likely, a toxic algae bloom
,) the mass die-off emphasized the precarious status of a species already regarded as critically endangered throughout its range.
While still far below the early 1997 count, numbers in this all-important location have started a slow-paced recovery ever since. Currently, the population in this location is estimated at 150 individuals, down from some 310 in 1997, but still the largest single colony by far. The threat of a similar incident that could wipe out the entire population remains.
and Greece
are known to have pushed local people towards hunting the Mediterranean monk seal, but mostly out of revenge, rather than population control. Preservation efforts have been put forth by civic organizations, foundations, and universities in both countries since as early as the 1970s. For the past 10 years, many groups have carried out missions to educate locals on damage control and species preservation. Reports of positive results of such efforts exist throughout the area.
In the Aegean Sea, only 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 greatly involved in raising awareness in the general public, fundraising for the helping of the monk seal preservation cause, in Greece and wherever needed. Greece is currently investigating the possibility of declaring another monk seal breeding site as a national park, and also has integrated some sites in the NATURA 2000 protection scheme. The legislation in Greece is very strict towards seal hunting, and in general, the public is very much aware and supportive of the effort for the preservation of the Mediterranean monk seal.
The complex politics concerning the covert opposition of the Greek government towards the protection to the monk seals in the eastern Aegean in the late 1970s is described in a book by William Johnson. Oil companies apparently may have been using the Monk Seal Sanctuary project as a stalking horse
to encourage greater cooperation between the Greek and Turkish governments as a preliminary to pushing for oil extraction rights in a geopolitically unstable area. According to Johnson, the Greek secret service, the YPEA, were against such moves and sabotaged the project to the detriment both of the seals and conservationists, who, unaware of such covert motivations, sought only to protect the species and its habitat.
One of the largest groups among the foundations concentrating their efforts towards the preservation of the Mediterranean monk seal is the Mediterranean Seal Research Group (Turkish: Akdeniz Foklarını Araştırma Grubu) operating under the Underwater Research Foundation (Turkish: Sualtı Araştırmaları Derneği) in Turkey
(also known as SAD-AFAG). The group has taken initiative in joint preservation efforts together with the Foça
municipal officials, as well as phone, fax, and email hotlines for sightings.
Preservation of the species requires both the preservation of land and sea, due to the need for terrestrial haul-out
sites and caves or caverns for the animal to rest and reproduce. Even though responsible scuba diving
instructors hesitate to make trips to known seal caves, the rumor of a seal sighting quickly becomes a tourist attraction for many. Irresponsible scuba diving trips scare the seals away from caves which could become habitation for the species.
On 7 January 2010, fishermen spotted an injured Mediterranean monk seal off the coasts of Tel Aviv
, Israel
. When zoo veterinarians arrived to help the seal, it had slipped back into the waters. Members of the Israel Marine Mammal Research and Assistance Center arrived at the scene and tried to locate the injured mammal, but with no success. This was the first sighting of the species in the region since Lebanese authorities claimed to have found a population of 10–20 other seals on their coasts 70 years earlier. In addition, the seal was also sighted a couple of weeks later in the northern kibbutz of Rosh Hanikra.
In April 2010, there was a report of a sighting off the island of Marettimo
, in the Egadi Islands off the coast of Italy
, near the Province of Trapani
.
In November 2010, a Mediterranean monk seal, supposedly aged between 10 and 20, has been spotted in Bodrum, Turkey.
On December 31, 2010, the BBC Earth news reported that the MOm Hellenic Society had located a new colony of seals on a remote beach in the Aegean Sea. The exact location was not communicated so as to keep the site protected. The society was appealing to the Greek government to integrate the part of the island on which the seals live into a marine protected area
.
On March 8, 2011, the BBC Earth news reported that a pup seal had been spotted on 7 February while monitoring a seal colony on an island in the southwestern Aegean Sea. Soon after, it showed signs of weakness and it was taken to a rehabilitation centre to try to save it. The aim is to release it back into the wild as soon as it is strong enough.
On June 24, 2011, the Blue World Institute of Croatia filmed an adult female underwater in the northern Adriatic, off the island of Cres.
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
belonging to the Phocidae family. At some 450-510 (fewer than 600) remaining individuals, it is believed to be the world's second-rarest pinniped (second only to the Saimaa ringed seal
Saimaa Ringed Seal
The Saimaa ringed seal The Saimaa ringed seal The Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis, is a subspecies of ringed seal (Pusa hispida). They are among the most endangered seals in the world, having a total population of only about 260 individuals. The only existing population of these seals is...
), and one of the most endangered mammals in the world.
It is present in parts of the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
and the eastern Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
waters around the Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Cancer
The Tropic of Cancer, also referred to as the Northern tropic, is the circle of latitude on the Earth that marks the most northerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead at its zenith...
, as well.
Description
This species of monk seal, one of the largest seals in the world, grows from approximately 80 cm long at birth up to an average of 2.4 m (7.95 ft) as adults. Males weigh an average of 315 kg (695 lbs) and females weigh 300 kg (660 lbs)), overall weigh ranging from 240 to 400 kg (530-880 lbs). They are thought to live up to 45 years old; the average life span is thought to be 20 to 25 years old and reproductive maturity is reached at around age four.The monk seals' pups are about a meter long and weigh around 15-18 kilograms, their skin being covered by 1-1.5 centimeter-long, dark brown to black hair. On their bellies, there is a white stripe, which differs in color between the two sexes. This hair is replaced after six to eight weeks by the usual short hair adults carry.
Pregnant Mediterranean monk seals typically use inaccessible undersea caves while giving birth, though historical descriptions show they used open beaches until the 18th century. There are eight pairs of teeth in both jaws.
Believed to have the shortest hair of any pinniped, the Mediterranean monk seal fur is black (males) or brown to dark grey (females), with a paler belly, which is close to white in males. The snout is short broad and flat, with very pronounced, long nostrils that face upward, unlike their Hawaiian relative
Hawaiian Monk Seal
The Hawaiian monk seal, Monachus schauinslandi, is an endangered species of earless seal in the Phocidae family that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands....
, which tend to have more forward nostrils. The flippers are relatively short, with small slender claws. Monk seals have two pairs of retractable abdominal teats, unlike most other pinnipeds.
Reproduction
Very little is known of this seal's reproduction. Scientists have suggested they are polygynousPolygyny
Polygyny is a form of marriage in which a man has two or more wives at the same time. In countries where the practice is illegal, the man is referred to as a bigamist or a polygamist...
, with males being very territorial where they mate with females. Although there is no breeding season, since births take place year round, there is a peak in October and November. This is also the time when caves are prone to wash out due to high surf or storm surge
Storm surge
A storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure weather system, typically tropical cyclones and strong extratropical cyclones. Storm surges are caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface. The wind causes the water to pile up higher than the ordinary sea...
, which causes high mortality rates among monk seal pups, especially at the key Cabo Blanco
Ras Nouadhibou
Ras Nouadhibou is a 40-mile peninsula or headland in the African coast of the Atlantic Ocean by the Tropic of Cancer. It is internationally known as Cap Blanc in French or Cabo Blanco in Spanish .- History :...
colony. According to the IUCN species factsheet, "pup survival is low; just under 50% survive their first two months to the onset of their moult, and most mortalities occurred in the first two weeks. Survival of pups born from September to January is 29%. This very low survival rate is associated with mortality caused by severe storms, and high swells and tides, but impoverished genetic variability and inbreeding may also be involved. Pups born during the rest of the year had a survival rate of 71%".
In 2008, lactation was reported in an open beach, the first such record since 1945, which could suggest the seal could begin feeling increasingly safe to return to open beaches for breeding purposes in Cabo Blanco.
Pups make first contact with the water two weeks after their birth, and are weaned at around 18 weeks of age; females caring for pups will go off to feed for an average of nine hours. Most individuals are believed to reach maturity at four years of age. The gestation period lasts close to a year. However, it is believed to be common among monk seals of the Cabo Blanco colony to have a gestation period lasting slightly longer than a year.
Diet
Mediterranean monk seals are diurnal and feed on a variety of fishFish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
and mollusks, primarily octopus
Octopus
The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
, squid
Squid
Squid are cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle, and arms. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms arranged in pairs and two, usually longer, tentacles...
, and eel
Eel
Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...
s, up to 3 kg per day. They are known to forage mostly at depths of 150–230 feet, but (as a species) have been observed by the NOAA in a submersible at a known feeding ground at a depth of 500m. Monk seals prefer hunting in wide-open spaces, enabling them to use their speed more effectively. They are successful bottom-feeding hunters, and have been observed (as a species) lifting slabs of rock in search of prey.
Habitat
The habitat of this pinniped has changed over the years. In ancient times, and up until the 20th century, Mediterranean monk seals had been known to congregate, give birth, and seek refuge on open beaches. In more recent times, they have left their former habitat and now only use sea caves for such things; and more often than not, these caves are rather inaccessible to humans due to underwater entries, and because the caves are often positioned along remote or rugged coastlines.Scientists have confirmed this is a recent adaptation, most likely due to the rapid increase in human population, tourism, and industry, which have caused the destruction of animals' habitat. Because of these seals' shy nature and sensitivity to human disturbance, they have slowly adapted to try to avoid contact with humans completely within the last century, and, perhaps, even earlier. The coastal caves are, however, dangerous for newborns, and are causes of major mortality among pups.
Status
This earless sealEarless seal
The true seals or earless seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal superfamily, Pinnipedia. All true seals are members of the family Phocidae . They are sometimes called crawling seals to distinguish them from the fur seals and sea lions of the family Otariidae...
's former range extended throughout the Northwest Atlantic Africa, Mediterranean and Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
, coastlines, including all offshore islands of the Mediterranean, and into the Atlantic and its islands: Canary, Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
, Ilhas desertas, Porto Santo... as far west as the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
. Vagrants
Vagrancy (biology)
Vagrancy is a phenomenon in biology whereby individual animals appear well outside their normal range; individual animals which exhibit vagrancy are known as vagrants. The term accidental is sometimes also used...
could be found as far south as Gambia and the Cape Verde
Cape Verde
The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...
islands, and as far north as continental Portugal and Atlantic France.
Several causes have 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.
The species has gone extinct in the Sea of Marmara
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black...
due to pollution and heavy ship traffic from the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
and the Bosporus
Bosporus
The Bosphorus or Bosporus , also known as the Istanbul Strait , is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with the Dardanelles...
. In addition, the last report of a seal in the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
dates to the late 1990s.
Nowadays, its entire population is estimated to be less than 600 individuals scattered throughout a wide distribution range, which qualifies this species as Critically Endangered. Its current very sparse population is one more serious threat to the species, as it only has two key sites which can be deemed viable. One is the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
(250-300 in Greece and some 100 in Turkey) and the other is the Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
n portion of Cabo Blanco
Ras Nouadhibou
Ras Nouadhibou is a 40-mile peninsula or headland in the African coast of the Atlantic Ocean by the Tropic of Cancer. It is internationally known as Cap Blanc in French or Cabo Blanco in Spanish .- History :...
(some 130 individuals which may support the small, but growing, nucleus in the Desertas Islands
Desertas Islands
The Desertas Islands are a small Portuguese archipelago, located about 25 km to the southeast of Ponta de São Lourenço, the eastern tip of the island of Madeira, the whole chain located roughly between Madeira and the Canary Islands.-Geography:...
–approximately 20 individuals).
These two key sites are virtually in the extreme opposites of the species' distribution range, which makes natural population interchange between these two key sites 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 5 individuals.
These other remaining populations are in Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
, with 30 to 35 individuals, and the Desertas Islands
Desertas Islands
The Desertas Islands are a small Portuguese archipelago, located about 25 km to the southeast of Ponta de São Lourenço, the eastern tip of the island of Madeira, the whole chain located roughly between Madeira and the Canary Islands.-Geography:...
(both in the Atlantic Ocean) and southwestern Turkey
Antalya Province
Antalya Province is located on the Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean sea.Antalya Province is the centre of Turkey's tourism industry, attracting 30% of foreign tourists visiting Turkey. The province of Antalya corresponds to the lands of...
and the Ionian Sea
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...
(both in the eastern Mediterranean). The species status is virtually moribund in the western Mediterranean, which still holds tiny Moroccan
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n populations, associated with rare sightings of vagrants in the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
, Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, and other western Mediterranean locations.
Cabo Blanco 1997 die off
Cabo Blanco, in the Atlantic Ocean, is the largest surviving single population of the species, and the only remaining site which still seems to preserve a colony structure. In the summer of 1997, two-thirds of its seal population were wiped out within two months, extremely compromising the species' viable population. While opinions on the precise causes of this epidemic remain divided (the most likely cause being a morbilivirusPhocine distemper virus
Phocine distemper virus is a paramyxovirus of the genus morbillivirus that is pathogenic for pinniped species, particularly seals. Clinical signs include laboured breathing, fever and nervous symptoms....
or, more likely, a toxic algae bloom
Red tide
Red tide is a common name for a phenomenon also known as an algal bloom , an event in which estuarine, marine, or fresh water algae accumulate rapidly in the water column and results in discoloration of the surface water. It is usually found in coastal areas...
,) the mass die-off emphasized the precarious status of a species already regarded as critically endangered throughout its range.
While still far below the early 1997 count, numbers in this all-important location have started a slow-paced recovery ever since. Currently, the population in this location is estimated at 150 individuals, down from some 310 in 1997, but still the largest single colony by far. The threat of a similar incident that could wipe out the entire population remains.
Preservation
Damage inflicted upon fishermen's nets and rare attacks on off-shore fish farms in TurkeyTurkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
are known to have pushed local people towards hunting the Mediterranean monk seal, but mostly out of revenge, rather than population control. Preservation efforts have been put forth by civic organizations, foundations, and universities in both countries since as early as the 1970s. For the past 10 years, many groups have carried out missions to educate locals on damage control and species preservation. Reports of positive results of such efforts exist throughout the area.
In the Aegean Sea, only Greece has allocated a large area for the preservation of the Mediterranean monk seal and its habitat. The Greek Alonissos Marine Park
Alonissos Marine Park
The National Marine Park of Alonnisos Northern Sporades was founded by Presidential Decree on May 16, 1992. It was the first of its kind in Greece, and is currently the largest marine protected area in Europe...
, that extends around the Northern Sporades
Sporades
The Sporades are an archipelago along the east coast of Greece, northeast of the island of Euboea, in the Aegean Sea. It consists of 24 islands, of which four are permanently inhabited: Alonnisos, Skiathos, Skopelos and Skyros.-Administration:...
islands, is the main action ground of the Greek MOm organisation. MOm is greatly involved in raising awareness in the general public, fundraising for the helping of the monk seal preservation cause, in Greece and wherever needed. Greece is currently investigating the possibility of declaring another monk seal breeding site as a national park, and also has integrated some sites in the NATURA 2000 protection scheme. The legislation in Greece is very strict towards seal hunting, and in general, the public is very much aware and supportive of the effort for the preservation of the Mediterranean monk seal.
The complex politics concerning the covert opposition of the Greek government towards the protection to the monk seals in the eastern Aegean in the late 1970s is described in a book by William Johnson. Oil companies apparently may have been using the Monk Seal Sanctuary project as a stalking horse
Stalking horse
A stalking horse is a person who tests a concept with someone or mounts a challenge against them on behalf of an anonymous third party. If the idea proves viable and/or popular, the anonymous figure can then declare their interest and advance the concept with little risk of failure...
to encourage greater cooperation between the Greek and Turkish governments as a preliminary to pushing for oil extraction rights in a geopolitically unstable area. According to Johnson, the Greek secret service, the YPEA, were against such moves and sabotaged the project to the detriment both of the seals and conservationists, who, unaware of such covert motivations, sought only to protect the species and its habitat.
One of the largest groups among the foundations concentrating their efforts towards the preservation of the Mediterranean monk seal is the Mediterranean Seal Research Group (Turkish: Akdeniz Foklarını Araştırma Grubu) operating under the Underwater Research Foundation (Turkish: Sualtı Araştırmaları Derneği) in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
(also known as SAD-AFAG). The group has taken initiative in joint preservation efforts together with the Foça
Foça
Foça is town and district in Turkey's İzmir Province.The town of Foça is situated at about north by northwest of İzmir city center. The district also has a township with own municipality named Yenifoça , also along the shore and at a distance of from Foça proper...
municipal officials, as well as phone, fax, and email hotlines for sightings.
Preservation of the species requires both the preservation of land and sea, due to the need for terrestrial haul-out
Hauling-out
Hauling-out is the behaviour associated with pinnipeds , of temporarily leaving the water between periods of foraging activity for sites on land or ice...
sites and caves or caverns for the animal to rest and reproduce. Even though responsible scuba diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
instructors hesitate to make trips to known seal caves, the rumor of a seal sighting quickly becomes a tourist attraction for many. Irresponsible scuba diving trips scare the seals away from caves which could become habitation for the species.
Rare Sightings
In June 2009, there was a report of a sighting off the island of Giglio, in Italy.On 7 January 2010, fishermen spotted an injured Mediterranean monk seal off the coasts of Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. When zoo veterinarians arrived to help the seal, it had slipped back into the waters. Members of the Israel Marine Mammal Research and Assistance Center arrived at the scene and tried to locate the injured mammal, but with no success. This was the first sighting of the species in the region since Lebanese authorities claimed to have found a population of 10–20 other seals on their coasts 70 years earlier. In addition, the seal was also sighted a couple of weeks later in the northern kibbutz of Rosh Hanikra.
In April 2010, there was a report of a sighting off the island of Marettimo
Marettimo
Marettimo is one of the Aegadian Islands in the Mediterranean Sea west of Sicily, Italy. It forms a part of the municipality of Favignana in the Province of Trapani. From Trapani, the island takes about an hour to reach.Marettimo is the second largest of the Aegadian Islands...
, in the Egadi Islands off the coast of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, near the Province of Trapani
Province of Trapani
Trapani is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. Its capital is the city of Trapani.It has an area of 2,460 km², and a total population of 425,121...
.
In November 2010, a Mediterranean monk seal, supposedly aged between 10 and 20, has been spotted in Bodrum, Turkey.
On December 31, 2010, the BBC Earth news reported that the MOm Hellenic Society had located a new colony of seals on a remote beach in the Aegean Sea. The exact location was not communicated so as to keep the site protected. The society was appealing to the Greek government to integrate the part of the island on which the seals live into a marine protected area
Marine Protected Area
Marine Protected Areas, like any protected area, are regions in which human activity has been placed under some restrictions in the interest of conserving the natural environment, it's surrounding waters and the occupant ecosystems, and any cultural or historical resources that may require...
.
On March 8, 2011, the BBC Earth news reported that a pup seal had been spotted on 7 February while monitoring a seal colony on an island in the southwestern Aegean Sea. Soon after, it showed signs of weakness and it was taken to a rehabilitation centre to try to save it. The aim is to release it back into the wild as soon as it is strong enough.
On June 24, 2011, the Blue World Institute of Croatia filmed an adult female underwater in the northern Adriatic, off the island of Cres.
External links
- Mediterranean Monk Seal
- ARKive - images and movies of the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus)
- The Monachus Guardian
- Hellenic Society for the study and protection of the monk seal
- Madeira Monk Seal Colony
- SAD-AFAG (English version)
- Turkish National Action Plan for the Preservation of the Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus)
- Mediterranean monk seal factsheet at the United Nations Environment Programme - World Conservation Monitoring Centre