In Focus - Monachus Guardian 2 (1): May 1999

Within the framework of the activities of the Gruppo Foca Monaca of Italy, the author (a former coordinator of monk seal conservation projects in Turkey for WWF International’s Mediterranean Programme) while making preparations for a holiday by sailing boat through the islands of the Tuscan archipelago, requested authorization from the competent authorities to conduct a rapid survey in areas where the presence of monk seals was historically indicated, in particular at Montecristo, Pianosa and Gorgona.

The investigation, despite its extreme superficiality, allowed contact to be made with the responsible officers of the National Park of the Tuscan archipelago, with the State Forestry Organization (CFS), the Coastguard and the Directorate of the penal colony of Gorgona: we would like to thank them all for their ready availability, for the interest they showed and courteous assistance they offered.

The cruise presupposed a passage to all the islands of the archipelago, starting from the south (Roma – Fiumicino) and aiming for Livorno as the final destination. These are the islands called at in succession: Giannutri, Giglio, Montecristo, Pianosa, Elba (Porto Azzurro), Capraia, Gorgona.

Put simply, the surveys were carried out, in cases where sea conditions permitted, through inspection of predetermined sections of the coast (using 1:25,000 charts of the IIM), either by means of a service tender (belonging to the schooner Serena, 17.8 metres) or by dives without breathing equipment, researching or verifying caves suitable for the marine mammal and eventually utilisable for its recovery.

The underwater surveys were carried out by the author, by his son Filippo, and by Pekka Virtanen and Annika Eerola, Finnish guests on board the schooner, following a specific briefing on the modality and scope of the research. Sketches of the visited caves were not made; only their position on the nautical maps was indicated and photographs taken from the outside. Also, information was requested verbally from various people in the area of the investigation, including officers of the CFS, the Coastguard, the Penitentiary Police, the local population and fishermen.

At Giglio no survey was made along the coast since this was not envisaged for our cruise. Bad weather would anyhow have prevented it. Various locals were, however, interviewed who confirmed that seals could still be seen at the end of the 1950s near the Bay of Cannelle.

The fine sea conditions allowed us to set to work in Maestra Bay. A meeting with Paolo del Lama (PdL), custodian of the Reserve, and with officers of the CFS, was arranged. The presence of the seal around the island has not been noted for many years. The zone where it was formerly possible to observe the animal was always Corfu Bay (cf. The testimony of Cecco Baschieri (CB), at the time director of Rome Zoo, who reported its presence in 1968).

Several fishers who frequently shelter for the night in Corfu Bay were interviewed, among them the owner of a small fishing boat LI 1, who has frequented the areas around the island for nearly 40 years. He stated that he had never seen one. The same person, however, states that a fisher nicknamed ‘Topolino’ (about whose testimony the custodian of the island expresses some reserve) mentioned many times that up to half way through the seventies it was possible to see some seals feeding around the ‘Ants’ (rocks peeping above the water before Grosseto). The same ‘Topolino’ maintained that he often threw fish he had caught to seals who came and circled around his boat.

There is also quoted a fisherman who saw one of them in 1981, at the entrance to Maestra Bay. From the indications of the custodian, who on various occasions has carried out dives in different areas around the island, there are no caves, and particularly none with subaquatic access, along the rocky coast of the island, except one in Corfu Bay.

A complete survey was made, first by the tender and then in the water, of the whole rocky cliff-face of Corfu Bay, also examining the granite cliffs below the surface of the water. The sea was not completely calm and visibility not ideal.

No subaquatic entrances were observed. All of the caves present in the Bay were devoid of even a minimal internal beach, including two caves which enter fairly deeply into the granite cliff. No. 1 has no internal beach. No. 2, further to the right, has two siphons with a subaquatic passage of about 4 metres in depth (cf. A further testimony of the Custodian of the Reserve, Paolo del Lama and of the already cited CB. The Custodian affirms that this is the entrance to the more extensive cave that contained a small beach of around 3 metres. In an excursion by PdL in 1997 diving with tanks, that beach turned out no longer to be present).

It was not possible for the team of researchers, who were not equipped with tanks, to verify PdL’s observations. CB recently reported to the author how, during his last excursion to the island (around 1971), he scrambled up above cave No. 2 where there was an opening (not observed by the author), and through which it was possible to observe the interior of the cave. On that occasion he clearly heard from the inside two splashes, the characteristic sound that monk seals make when escaping into the water (although he did not observe any trace of a seal in the sea).

Comment – As regards the possible presence of caves suitable for monk seal habitation on the island of Montecristo, we refer to all that has been reported by the Custodian, PDL. It would, however, be necessary to conduct a long survey of the coast around the island (where sea conditions are often unfavourable) to verify the presence of other possible subaquatic caves. Nevertheless it remains a fact that in the past at Montecristo, monk seals have always been seen in Corfu Bay. It would be necessary to examine better that same bay using tanks and in particular reassess the state of the aforementioned cave. It is our opinion that the presence of seals at Montecristo did not, however, represent an important colony as at the other islands of the archipelago, but probably an intermittent one.

The sea of Pianosa and its coasts, to which access was forbidden in practice until last year because of the presence of the penal colony (and the maximum security jail) represented for us a real discovery. The waters are transparent, clean, rich in fish, and the island presents many features interesting for the purposes of our research. The sea around the island remains an intact Reserve but it is certain that the means that previously impeded the approach of unauthorized persons no longer exist, and the presence of the Coastguard, despite every good will, does not seem efficacious in succeeding to protect the island, as was done formerly, especially at night. A rumour circulates that one catch of fish at Pianosa might be worth 60-70 million Liras (about $33,000), from which we deduce that greed could be incited among many. One can only hope for an ever more efficient administration on the part of the PN, in particular the extent to which it will review the control of access to the marine environment, even though funds, as always, are scarce and the already high commitment of the Park personnel cannot succeed on its own in tackling such a vast territory.

The first hasty investigation carried out by us into the potential sites for the monk seal have indicated diverse places of interest that would have to be the object of a deeper investigation to achieve eventually a specific and reinforced protection. Also with regard to Pianosa we are truly grateful for the cordial welcome and support of the Coastguard and of those Penitentiary Police still present.

On the island we made contact with Roberto Traverso (RT), an ex-Carabiniere, married to a resident of the island. He has been present on the island for years and is deeply knowledgeable with regard to the sea, its depths and coastline. He is a passionate diver and a convinced supporter of the natural protection of these places. Thanks to RT we were able to detail the presence of sites potentially interesting for the purposes of our research and were able to develop in optimal conditions some on-the-spot investigations, both from the land and the sea, even though time was severely restricted. RT also expressed his interest in collaborating with the Gruppo Foca Monaca and in carrying out, if possible, coordinated and methodical verifications during possible research activities in the waters of the island.

Notwithstanding the predominantly level aspect of Pianosa, there are numerous caves at various locations along the coast, many of which (testimony of RT) have small beaches or internal reefs, some with underwater access and with various chambers linked by siphons. In particular, we point to the toponym ‘the Cave of Cows’ (Grotta di Vacche) a little after the Roman villa, a cave which has been reported to us as crumbling (a fact not confirmed by us), and then the presence of potentially interesting caves between Punta del Grottone and Punta del Marchese, near Porto Romano, in the Golfo della Botte, in the section of coast before Punta Libeccio, in the zone of Torre S. Marco, a little before Cala della Ruta, and in Cala del Bruciato. A conspicuous number of zones, therefore, are provided with crevices, all to be checked and classified.

With RT we carried out a preliminary inspection from the land of a cave near the ancient cemetery of the island. The cave is situated in a zone that was relatively well settled by humans, at least in the past. One part of it is crumbling. In its vicinity is the inlet from the sea of cooling water for the local power station. The cave has a modest internal beach.

We carried out a long examination in the water of a stretch of coast (about 1 km long) a little to the north of Punta del Grottone, which included the inspection of a vast cave: the cave was interesting, without a beach but with an internal reef and linked by a short siphon to another smaller cave also with an internal reef and an overhanging opening towards the land.

Comment – Despite our very brief visit, the situation of Pianosa, as already mentioned, shows itself to be very interesting. No specific facts revealed themselves on the possible recent presence of the pinniped which, however, certainly inhabited the waters of the island just as those of all the other islands until the end of the sixties. Pianosa is the oldest Italian penal colony (adapted to that function as early as 1856 under the Grand Dukes of Tuscany). Its sea was therefore for long under strict surveillance and consequently protected up to the present day, even though the families of the prison staff and the guards themselves had the opportunity of visiting the beaches and coasts, and of fishing for their own sustenance.

We did not find, however, among the few persons present on the island, anyone who might have had recent sightings. It is also evident that, notwithstanding the sea patrols, no one has ever had the idea of investigating or verifying the presence of an animal unfamiliar to most. We would consider it important to implement an in-depth analysis of the coastal area mentioned, checking the caves and possibly putting before the Park authority the possibility of experimenting, in the most appropriate way, with the deployment of infrared cameras (as in the methodology applied by Emanuele Coppola for the GFM).

On the island of Elba we did not carry out any specific research because that was not envisaged in our travel plan. We did, however, interview various local small-scale fishermen (all of them initially very aggressive because of the regulations of the PN, which was considered to be the cause of their misery). From one of them, present in Porto Azzurro, we received the report of a firsthand observation of a seal (seen to emerge several times) in front of the Grotta del Bue Marino – the Cave of the Sea Ox – (Capoliveri) in 1985.

The coastline of Capraia was also not among those islands for which we had proposed even a quick on-the-spot investigation. We did, however, circumnavigate it entirely, passing very close to the high cliffs and in front of the Grotta del Bue Marino. As at Giglio and Giannutri, around the island, which has practically no beaches, we confirmed the presence of many boats and launches. A local subaqua school carries out regular dives at various points around the island.

The owner of the school, interviewed by us, said he had never seen a seal during recent years, nor does he know of anyone or of any local fisherman (of which there are very few) who had seen one. From the sea this island also displays many clefts and probably has interesting caves.

Together with Pianosa, Gorgona was, without doubt, the most interesting with regard to our research. The island, the site of an active penal colony since 1860, is very well administered by an able and dynamic director, Carlo Mazzerbo, and is the latest island of the archipelago to enjoy an iron control thanks to the continuous patrols of the Penitentiary Police which head out to sea as soon as unregistered craft appear within the regulation distance and do not respond to radio calls by stopping and turning back. For this reason the depths continue to display a wealth of fish, and thanks too to the existing tranquillity, there are very often seen near the island cetaceans such as the spotted, the bottlenose and the common dolphin (an event also occurring during our visit in July, and even more recently during our other visit in November).

We are very grateful to the director Carlo Mazzerbo for the great courtesy of his welcome and for having put at our disposal a representative to see to our requirements.

From the sea a monitoring of the coast at the Grotta del Bue Marino was carried out, between Cala dello Scirocco and Punta della Tacca. Near to the cave there is another one which, like that of Bue Marino, enters fairly deeply into the rocky cliff but does not possess an internal beach. The Grotta de Bue Marino is, on the other hand, fully correspondent with the historical presence of seals.

Unfortunately the oldest fisherman on the island, to whom we wished to put some questions, recently died. His son, who was interviewed on our behalf by one of the prison guards, stated (with absolute certainty, it was reported to us) that various seals were present in the cave right up until the end of the eighties. Initially eight in number, these all died in the course of time, finding their end in the nets set by his father, a fisherman who supplied the Community of the island.

Unfortunately, as far as it is possible to ascertain, there is no confirmation of such a story. There was in the end no time to carry out further checks in other areas of the island as we would have wished.

Comments – Even more than Pianosa, Gorgona appears, thanks to its status, as an ‘ideal’ island, the most ‘controlled’ of all the Tuscan archipelago, the most tranquil and protected. It too is surrounded by a full marine reserve. We consider that, in agreement with the Park and the management of the penal institution, the Grotta del Bue Marino should also be able to be selected for the installation for experimental purposes of monitoring cameras. As mentioned, there is no evidence of the presence of seals in recent years, but that could be on account of the rare presence of human beings on the sea. The ready availability of the Director (and the Park authorities) should be able to permit in-depth studies along the whole of the perimeter of the island which, according to prison guards, has various clefts.

Finally, the guards Natale Ghisu and Giuseppe Manca, in service on the island, and being familiar with the purpose of our visit, told us of having observed two seals emerging from the water on several occasions in July 1993, when they spent several hours in a fishing boat not far from the cave of Bue Marino in Sardinia.

Translated from Italian by David J. L. Johnson