Vol. 9 (2): November 2006

Italy

Monk seal sighting in Pantelleria strikes again

It was approximately 12 pm on Friday September 22, 2006 when Fortunato Di Malta, the dive master of TGI Diving, returned with another 8 recreational divers from a diving bout on the northeastern part of the island of Pantelleria. The sea was calm and they were cruising at a rather elevated speed in order to get back into port on time. Suddenly, when they were at approximately 200-400 meters distance from Punta Karace (on the central-eastern side of the island) they spotted an object, similar to a round head, which seemed to be moving on the water surface. “Hey, watch out! What is that diver doing there without an appropriate diving buoy?” asks Massimo Medri, one of the passengers aboard the dive boat. “No, I think it’s a turtle,” says someone else, as Di Malta reduces the Zodiac’s speed and begins steering towards the floating object. The round head that they observe is dark grey and it glistens in the sun – “that’s why we initially thought it was a diver with a dark grey wetsuit,” says Roberto Dalan, another boat passenger, but as they approach it they see it is the head of an animal, who swims with its head held well out of the water and who continues swimming along on its course despite the boat’s approach. “When we arrived at approximately 10 meters distance, it was clear that the animal was neither a human nor a marine turtle and that it had seen us. Its round head, always held out of the water, had a squashed snout and I could see some whiskers on the upper sides of the mouth. I think it also had small little dots all around the upper sides of the snout close to the mouth and its eyes were large, dark, with a very attentive gaze that was steadily held in our direction….” says Andrea Rosati, the third diver on board. The individual was observed for a few minutes, during which time it swam on the sea surface “with very fluid wavelike movements during which one could see the rest of its back floating just under the water’s surface and behind its head. At the end of the body I could see the edges of what I think were the flippers and I heard it making at least a breathing sound in the fraction of those few minutes of observation,” says Aldo Magatti, the fourth passenger on board. After a minute or so, the individual dips its head in the water and, in so doing, the dorsal part of its body glides for a few minutes under the water surface followed by the trailing edge of the flippers. “The shape of the flippers that I observed, since we were so close, were nothing at all like the flippers of any marine animal I have ever seen during my dives at sea,” says Massimo Medri and continues, “they were vaguely triangular in shape and it seemed to me like each was somewhat curled up, like they could widen up and then be retracted in width, something similar to the way wading ducks can open and close their feet….” The animal dives and emerges a few seconds later further away from the boat, swims on the sea surface for another minute or so then dives again and is seen no more.

Upon returning to the port, the dive master immediately notifies the head of the Coast Guard office who in turn notifies ICRAM offices so that the observers can subsequently be interviewed by ICRAM staff. Five of the eight divers present were interviewed separately and they described the animal as being an estimated 1-1.5 meters in length, of a uniform dark grey colour with lighter abdomen. The common distinguishing characteristics that were described by each are: round head held well out of the water during swimming, large ocular orbits, a compressed snout characterised by light coloured vibrissae, a thinner neck followed by a larger spindle-shaped body, anterior flippers and rear flippers positioned at the far end of the body. Given the reported characteristics it is possible to estimate that the observed individual was a juvenile monk seal.

This is not the first time that monk seal sightings are reported in Pantelleria. On January 7, 2005, Tino Alongi, the same Coast Guard Commander that reported the present sighting, had alerted ICRAM that two skin divers had come across what they claimed to be a seal emerging from an underwater cave situated along Pantelleria’s southwestern cliffs, and whose entrance lies at a 3 meters depth. The Coast Guard officer later convened those divers at his office, thus allowing them to be telephonically interviewed by ICRAM staff, through a similar procedure. The divers had described the animal as being 1.5-2.0 long, dark with larger spotted areas on the back, and characterised by various of the distinguishing phocid characteristics. Another series of seal sightings dates back to June 1998 during which a single individual, of approximately 1-1.5 meters in length, was observed along the northwestern coast of the island by several islanders and fishers (see Sightings, The Monachus Guardian 1(2): December 1998]. – Giulia Mo, ICRAM.

Madeira

Seal finds stardom

On 6 May one of the reproducing females of the Desertas Islands, known to us as “Desertinha”, was discovered on Madeira with a deep wound around the top of her hind flippers. Though the cause could not be confirmed, the shape and position of the wound suggests that it was inflicted deliberately. Reports in Madeira indicate that some seals have been intentionally drowned in this way, the rope being attached to a heavy stone and then tied around the animal’s hind flippers.

Desertinha with evidence of a deep wound to her hind flippers.

Badly debilitated as a result of the incident, for some days Desertinha stayed at sea, close to a coastal recreation facility of Funchal, where several members of the public came to see her. The area was isolated and the SRRC of Pieterburen dispatched a technician to Madeira to assist in possible rescue efforts.

It was decided to treat the wound, that had become severely infected. Capture at sea therefore had to be attempted, though with the additional safeguard of abandoning the operation if she reacted badly.

The Portuguese Navy, the Whale Museum and the Sea Rescue Association all participated in the operation. However, when Desertinha sensed the boats approaching, she simply moved on. We lost her.

	Desertinha, on the mend.

During these days, Desertinha became a television and newspaper star; very few people on the island can not have heard of her.

And it was that knowledge, particularly among scuba divers, fisherman and others that enabled us to track her. For the first two days, she remained in a sea cave. When we entered, both to confirm her presence and to give her fish containing antibiotics, she again fled the scene.

During the next 13 days, she moved all along the south coast of Madeira and on several occasions we could confirm her recuperation and also that she was feeding by her self, though her posterior area remained inactive.

Since then, she has been observed often at the Garajau Nature Reserve on the south coast. She has recovered the movement in her posterior area but has not yet, it seems, had the confidence to return to the Desertas.

During May and June Desertinha was a frequent topic of discussion among the Madeira people, achieving what we have been trying to do for years within our environmental campaigns: she generated a wave of public solidarity for monk seals and monk seal protection. – Rosa Pires, Parque Natural da Madeira.

Rehabilitation and necropsies training

During one week in July, a Parque Natural da Madeira (PNMS) trainee and a veterinarian from the Regional Fisheries Department who has been collaborating with the PNMS underwent training on the rehabilitation of seals and necropsies at the Seal Rehabilitation and Rescue Centre (SRRC) in Pieterburen, the Netherlands. – Rosa Pires, Parque Natural da Madeira.

Two dead seals – one Monk, one Hooded

A dead monk seal was discovered floating near Ilhéu Chão in the Desertas Islands Nature Reserve on 14th August. It was identified as a male, with a standard length of 161 cm.

The subsequent necropsy was performed by a veterinarian from the SRRC and a pathologist from the Rotterdam University. Unfortunately, the animal’s advanced state of decomposition did not allow a preliminary diagnosis. However, samples were taken for posterior bacteriological and virological  analyses.

Earlier, on the 3rd of August, an injured hooded seal Cystophora cristata was discovered, the first known record of this species in the archipelago. Following a rehabilitation period of 3 days, the seal died, a subsequent necropsy suggesting that the cause had been aspiration pneumonia. – Rosa Pires, Parque Natural da Madeira.

How to behave

Following an increasing occurrence of monk seals around the main island of Madeira, along with fishermen’s complaints about seals damaging their fishing gear, environmental education became a priority for the PNM service during 2006.

City councils were invited to include in their Blue Flag Programme a talk on “How to behave in a presence of a Monk Seal” aimed at fishermen and others using the sea.

Seal Week in Santa Cruz.		Talking net damage. The PNM’s Rosa Pires and Marco Camacho, a PNMS ranger, with a Madeiran fisherman.

In Santa Cruz, where monk seals are more frequently sighted, a monk seal week was held between 22-27 August, during which talks and presentations were held for the general public, along with children’s activities and a travelling exhibition.

Meanwhile, contacts with fishermen were also established in order to demonstrate our concern and also to discuss possible solutions to the issue of seal damage to fishing gear. – Rosa Pires, Parque Natural da Madeira.

Mauritania & Western Sahara

Notable increase of newborn pups at Cabo Blanco in 2006

Prior to the mass die-off that decimated the Cabo Blanco monk seal population in 1997, an average of 52 births took place in the breeding caves each year. Following that catastrophic event, when an estimated 200 of the 350 animals of the population died, the productivity of the colony decreased to 24 pups in 1998.

Since the launch of conservation efforts in the area in 2000, under the framework of the Action Plan for the Recovery of the Monk Seal in the Eastern Atlantic (CMS/UNEP), the population has shown hopeful signs of recovery [see Hopeful signs at Cabo Blanco, TMG 7 (1): June 2004].

	Mother and pup at Cabo Blanco.

Following the establishment of a no-fishing zone in 2001 and the elimination of disturbances in the vicinity of the breeding caves, the number of animals (except pups) found dead on the beaches south of the colony has notably decreased, and the number of animals using the breeding caves and the number of adult males occupying territories near the reserve have increased.

During the years following the die-off, the productivity has slightly increased, from 24 pups born in 1998 to 29 in 2004 and 2005. However, this year (2006) the number of births has notably increased, with 46 pups having been born so far this season. Since monitoring in the breeding caves is similar to other years, this increase cannot be attributed to changes in the level of human effort. This year, identified females with no reproductive history have been observed with a pup, possibly their first one. Although the reproductive season has not yet ended, and data need to be analysed and filming records reviewed, the increase in productivity seems to be the result of the incorporation of new females into the reproductive fraction of the population.

The increase in productivity at the colony was an anticipated event, and one that will undoubtedly contribute to a faster recovery of the Cabo Blanco monk seal population. – Miguel Angel Cedenilla and Pablo Fernández de Larrinoa, CBD-Habitat Foundation.

Copyright © 2006 The Monachus Guardian. All Rights Reserved