Vol. 10 (1): June 2007

Italy

Sports fisherman reports monk seal sighting in Pantelleria (Sicily)

On 17 March, a newspaper article was published in the Sicilian regional newspaper, La Sicilia, reporting an alleged monk seal sighting which had occurred the day before along the southwestern coast of the island of Pantelleria.  Contacts were established between the author of the newspaper article and ICRAM staff, in order to identify and subsequently contact the eyewitness so as to investigate the sighting details through a telephonic interview.

The sighting occurred on 16 March at 10.00 am, approximately 50 meters from the coast, in proximity to a location known as Punta Polacca – Nika.  The observer, a sports fishermen, resident of the island of the Pantelleria, was travelling at an approximate speed of 1 knot while fishing with a troll line in an area where the bathymetry is approximately 27-35 meters. The sea conditions were very good and visibility was fair. The man reported observing a patch of flickering shadows along the water’s edge in front of the boat, saying “it looked to me like horse mackerel shoaling just under the sea surface.” After a minute or so, at approximately 20-25 meters’ distance and to the left of the boat’s bow, he noticed something which looked like the wake of a larger animal moving just under the water’s surface.  “At first, judging from the dimensions of that large shadow, I thought of a very large fish or a dolphin so I tried to focus on it and pay attention. It was then that the animal emerged, just barely on the water surface, and I saw the back; it was a sloping round back but there were no fins, and the colour struck me, it seemed unusual, it was pretty dark, I would say a medium to dark brown. It was relatively shiny because the sun was shining but the texture was not as shiny as a fish or dolphin would be…” At this point, the observed animal appeared to submerge relatively quickly and then quickly re-emerged a few meters further. “But this time it emerged head first, a round head, similar to that  of a human, except that the front part developed somewhat on a horizontal plane, but very squashed, I know that was the nose part, it reminded me of a dog… it was facing the boat, and for very few seconds, as the animal kept on swimming in a straight forward motion, I could see it was keeping its head out of water.” The observation was very short, and in a question of seconds the animal dived again, the round back slowly following behind. When prodded on the physical details of the sighted animal the man went on to explain that, “The underneath part of what I would presume was the mouth was darker, while to the sides of the nose, in the cheek area, the colouring seemed lighter. I can’t say I saw any other physical details, but I think it was a seal.  I have never seen anything like it in all my years of fishing here…” The overall estimated duration of the sighting did not exceed 5-6 seconds, apparently not enough to deduce any further details.  Seal sightings have been reported for Pantelleria island in the past, one in September 2006, another one in January 2005 in an area very proximate to the present reported sighting, and several others during the summer of 1998. – Giulia Mo, ICRAM.

Sighting in Sardinia

Emanuelle Coppola of Gruppo Foca Monaca has reported a seal sighting from the northwest coast of Sardinia. The sighting, by an adult recreational fisherman, Signor Gianni Puntus, and two children, took place on 7 May 2007 at around 18.30 near the entrance to the small harbour of Castelsardo. Sig. Puntus photographed the animal with his mobile phone, explaining the poor quality of the image. His 5-year old son Raffaele made a drawing of the event, also reproduced here.

Cilician ecotour

	Avventure to the  Cilican coast of Turkey, 2004.

WWF Italy’s “Panda Avventure” group is organising two ecotourism excursions to Turkey and the Cilician monk seal project area again this year. The dates are: 22 June to 1 July inclusive, and 26 October to 4 November inclusive. Departures are possible from both Rome or Istanbul. The cost of the full 10-day package – excluding the flight – is 850 Euros. The entire programme can be found on the Gruppo Foca Monaca web site, both in Italian and in English. - Luigi Guarrera, Gruppo Foca Monaca.

[For further background, see also Cilician Basin ecotourism project enters second phase, TMG 7(2): 2004].

Madeira

Habitat study around Madeira Island

In accordance with guidelines of the Action Plan for the Recovery of the Mediterranean Monk Seal in the Eastern Atlantic, the Parque Natural da Madeira service is surveying the Madeira coastline to identify potential sites that may be used by the species.

Ponta de São Lourenço was the first area to be surveyed. Following a preliminary study in 1993, in 2001 it was confirmed that the area has excellent conditions for the species.

Recently (9-11 April) a survey was conducted along part of the northwest coast and all the southwest coast of Madeira, from Achadas da Cruz to Funchal. The survey was conducted in collaboration with the CRAM Foundation of Spain, whose researchers were on Madeira for a period of around two weeks conducting “la Caixa a favor del mar: la ruta del Vell Marí”, a project of the social fund “la Caixa”.

As a result of the survey, eight caves were identified, all located near each other on the extreme west of Madeira. Of the eight, two have conditions suitable for use by monk seals. This fact, in addition to the presence of isolated small beaches and low human disturbance, makes this a potential area of use by monk seals. To date, the only reported sighting of one female and one juvenile on the island was in this area. Most of the sightings around Madeira are of isolated individuals and immature or adult seals. During the survey a sighting of an individual around Achadas da Cruz was also reported. – Rosa Pires, Parque Natural da Madeira, and Manel Gazo, CRAM.

Two births, one dead pup

	A monk seal pup, born on 6 November 2006 at the Desertas Islands, May 2007.

Last year there was a decrease in the detected births at Madeira and the Desertas Islands from three to two. This could be related to the fact of one of the reproducer females – “Desertinha” -– could not conceive, or aborted her fetus due to the accident that happened in May 2006 [see Seal finds stardom, TMG 9 (2): November 2006].

Unfortunately, one of the new pups was found already dead near Ponta de São Lourenço. It was the first pup detected on Madeira Island.

The cause of death was not possible to determine due to the state of decomposition. – Rosa Pires, Parque Natural da Madeira.

News from Desertinha

On 7 March, monk seal “Desertinha” was observed for the first time at the Desertas Islands following her serious accident in May last year, in which she was badly debilitated [see Seal finds stardom, TMG 9 (2): November 2006].

Her long journey back to the Desertas from the main island of Madeira shows that she has recovered from the serious injury sustained to her hind flippers.

March is the season that mating occurs more frequently on the Desertas Islands. – Rosa Pires, Parque Natural da Madeira.

IFAW support

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has contributed 3,150 Euros towards improving monk seal rehabilitation conditions at the Desertas Islands and to obtain basic equipment and material to conduct necropsies. – Rosa Pires, Parque Natural da Madeira.

Malta

In our November 2000 issue, we ran an illustrated article on the surprising number of postage stamps to have been issued by countries around the world variously honouring, and in some cases unintentionally slandering, the world’s monk seals [Monk Seal Philately, TMG 3(2): November 2000]. Every so often, we also reported on new stamp issues when they came to our attention.

Today, better late than never, we record a 2004 issue by Mediterranean island Malta.

Country: Malta (EU) Theme: Fauna (Marine fauna) Subject: Mammals and Reptiles – Mediterranean Monk Seal – Date of Issue: 21 April 2004 Series: Subject Value: 0.16 MTL Stamp issuing authority: Malta Post plc Source info: http://www.wnsstamps.ch/stamps/MT026.04/en.html

Mauritania & Western Sahara

Poster presentation on pup production and mortality

Courtesy of CBD-Habitat, we are making the following poster presentation available for download in the Monk Seal Library:

Cedenilla, M.A, H. M’Bareck, M. Haya, A. Maroto, M. Muñoz, P. Fernández de Larrinoa and L.M. González. 2007. Evolution of pup production and pup mortality of the Mediterranean monk seal colony Cano Blanco (Mauritania-Morocco) after a mass mortality episode. Poster presentation, European Cetacean Society. CBD-Habitat Foundation. [PDF  355 KB]

The passing of Abdellahi Elmokhtar

On 24 February 2007, the naturalist Abdellahi Elmokhtar left us.  He was travelling to the Natural Area of Safia, in the Oued-Eddahab-Lagouira region (Morocco) to place informative signs about the protection of the largest surviving population of Dorcas gazelles that still exists in the wild, and which is under protection by a project developed by Nature Initiative, with the assistance of  CBD-Habitat Foundation. But the treacherous road that crosses the Sahara on its western border prevented his arrival, taking another victim.

When we met him, he instantly revealed his true nature. We found a transparent and sincere man; deeply convinced that the cause he was fighting for was worth it. He knew that the only way of winning was transmitting his same vision to all. He was one of the founders of the Association Nature Initiative from Dakhla, of which he was the president since its creation. He was always full of enthusiasm and dedication, tremendously engaged in recovering the Saharan fauna: Dorcas gazelles, monk seals, Mohor, Oryx, Addax and the Saharan ostriches.

And with him and the rest of the Nature Initiative, we made the first expeditions to the territory north of the Mauritanian border. Covering the entire coast from El Guerguerat to Cabo Barbas, searching for some indication of the presence of monk seals, we discovered one of the last places where still an important population of Dorcas gazelles survives.

People like Abdellahi give sense and purpose to an effort that often seems like swimming against the tide, and to the belief that there is still hope for many species that are on the verge of extinction. With these lines we want to offer a deserved tribute to him, joining the grief of his family, and committing ourselves to continue with the same vision, with our friends of Nature Initiative, the work that he started.

We shall never forget you. May you rest in the peace of the Sahara that you loved so much. – Michel Cedenilla, Fundación CBD-Habitat.

New Spanish language site on Monachus

Since the beginning of January this year, you can visit one of the most complete websites in Spanish about the Mediterranean monk seal, which contains exhaustive information about the species, its problems and the conservation initiatives aimed at halting its decline.

The website was created by the CBD-Habitat Foundation, which has been working for the protection and conservation of the Cabo Blanco monk seal colony for more than 10 years.

One of the main features of this new website is interaction, so in addition to the large and varied body of information about the species, it features a large number of videos and photos that let you see the different age groups and discover their everyday behaviour such as lactation and feeding, neither of which has been published on the Web before. You can also check the species’ historic distribution range and the few places where populations of the animal still survive.

You can access to this Web at www.monachus.es or at www.focamonje.es. – Mercedes Muñoz. Fundación CBD-Habitat.

Copyright © 2007 The Monachus Guardian. All Rights Reserved