Seals of Coincidence
Many years ago one of my technicians got married and happened to mention that they were driving around the Med. to celebrate, this generated the first comprehensive survey of Monachus. In July of this year her daughter Meg and her husband Dan drove across Africa (yes drove), and like her mother recorded another sighting of the Mauritanian seal as pictured; this was a very lucky visit.
– Professor Keith Ronald, 9 November 2009.
 Mercedes Muñoz Cañas,
of the Fundación CBD-Hábitat replies:
From the photograph provided by Professor Ronald, it was possible for us to identify the seal from our photo identification catalogue. The seal is:
AMRIGUE:
ID NUMBER-2271
Amrigue is an adult male of 12 years of age, rescued when he was a pup during the mass mortality episode in 1997 and released a few months later.
Today, he lives at the Cabo Blanco Satellite Reserve, which is part of Mauritania’s Banc D´Arguin National Park.
He currently has his marine territory under the new visitors centre at the Reserve, moving from the old marine territory that he had near the “Malika Tanger” ship, which beached accidentally on the southern shore of the Reserve.
Unfortunately this animal has no contact with the “Costa de las focas” (Coast of Seals) colony located a little up north, nor has he ever been seen close to any other seal, except an adult male that had a territory close by. It is believed that there were rare encounters between them to delimit territories.
We at Fundación CBD-Hábitat would like to send our thanks to Professor Ronald for all his efforts on behalf of monk seals over the years.
Holiday sighting
During a two week holiday we had the great experience of meeting a monk seal near an underwater cave on the coast of the small Greek island “Romvi” just south of “Tolo”, Argolida, Peloponnese. We were snorkelling just outside the opening of a small cave – the upper lip of the entrance at a water depth of 1 meter. When peering into the cave I saw a large moving greyish shape – and started to remove the group of snorkellers from the area as a precaution. The seal then left the cave and passed my youngest son at close hand. He saw the seal clearly under water.
Should we alert the local authorities in order to set up a protective perimeter around this cave?
— Thomas Blume, Denmark, 20 July 2009.
Marianna Psaradellis, biologist responsible for the Rescue and Information Network of MOm, replies:
The sighting of a monk seal is always a memorable experience, especially when encountering it underwater. We always appreciate receiving descriptions of these events. We regularly receive information coming from the area of Argolida, so this is a good sign. We don’t ask for extra protection from local authorities when sightings occur. As you noticed, the interaction you had was not dangerous or stressful, either for you or for the seal. What we do, is when we receive many reports coming from a particular area, we then focus more our monitoring programme there, so as to estimate the local population and then propose general and permanent protective measures, as we did in the Marine Park in Alonnisos (Sporades), Kimolos (Cyclades), Karpathos (Dodecanese), and as we now try to do in the area of Gyaros in the Cyclades.
Editor's note: Monk seal encounters are rare – though with increasing numbers of people venturing into wilder coastal areas for pleasure boating, diving and snorkelling, perhaps not as rare as they once were.
Here is a guide of what and what not to do when encountering a Mediterranean monk seal, be that underwater, in a cave, or on a beach.
Monk seal encounters
Dos and Don’ts
by Marianna Psaradellis
Monk seals, like all pinnipeds, spend most of their time in the water, but they give birth on shore, mostly in isolated sea caves. They can also haul-out on secluded beaches, to rest or dry their fur to facilitate the moulting process.
Though monk seals are rare, humans are not, and so there is still a slim chance of humans encountering a seal or vice versa…
Underwater…
- Don’t panic, don’t make sudden movements that might scare the animal away and don’t try to approach it.
- Respect its habitat and swim slowly and calmly away.
- If you have a speargun do not point it at the animal.
- When at a safe distance, don’t forget to observe carefully; try to keep mental notes of the animal’s size, colour, behaviour, and other details of the encounter.
Monk seals are not aggressive but they are wild animals and although they won’t attack, they will certainly defend themselves if panicked or provoked.
If the animal exhibits aggressive behaviour of any kind, try to swim calmly to shore.
In caves…
Of course, we would prefer people not to enter sea caves at all, but if you happen to do so and encounter a seal…
- Again, don’t panic, and don’t make any abrupt movements. Above all, do not try to enter deeper into the cave; if cornered, the seal might become aggressive. If it is a female with her pup you might end up scaring the mother away.
- Slowly retreat towards the entrance, staying close to the cave walls so that the animal does not feel trapped.
- Keep the cave entrance free, so the seal can make an escape if it feels impelled to do so. If this happens, do not try to venture deeper into the cave, but just swim calmly away.
Monk seals underwater or in caves, are in their natural environment and it is very unlikely that they need help.
On shore…
- Keep a safe distance from the seal at all times (at least 20 meters), and try to ensure that other people or domestic animals also do not venture too close. Do not occupy the space between the animal and the sea. If possible, use some natural feature (for instance a rock or tree) or manmade object, to hide and observe the animal.
- A monk seal on land doesn’t necessarily need human intervention and in many cases could be an adult moulting or sleeping deeply.
- The situation, however, can be critical if the animal is a stranded pup that might have lost its mother.
Contact MOm’s Rescue and Information team to describe the situation and receive instructions. The number is (+30) 210 5222888.
If the animal does not need help, you can still observe and take photographs of it from a safe distance, always making sure that you do not disturb it.
Please contact us to share your pictures and observations, at
. Every single monk seal encounter provides valuable information for the conservation of the species.
MOm has been operating the Rescue and Information Network since 1991. Its main goals are to:
- Monitor the status of the species in Greece, in order to plan conservation activities and to assess their effectiveness.
- Intervene where necessary to raise the survival possibilities of individuals (sick, wounded or orphaned seals) or populations (epidemics, oil spills, toxins).
If you have had a monk seal encounter, this is an excellent opportunity to get involved in the conservation of the species. Please contact us!
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Mission impossible
I was interested in knowing the annual growth/decline percentage of the Mediterranean monk seal.
– L.W. (by email), 28 June 2009.
Editor’s reply: And so, indeed, would every monk seal researcher or marine mammalogist in the Mediterranean.
Because the remnant populations of the Mediterranean monk seal are widely scattered and fragmented, with animals usually occupying remote and often inaccessible coastal habitat (steep, cliff-bound coasts, sea caves), field researchers are unable to chart overall trends in population abundance. Even estimates of overall population size are largely based on educated guesswork.
The only exception to the above is monk seal research in Mauritania/Western Sahara where, because of the concentration of the colony, researchers are able to use direct observation, photographic evidence and tagging to obtain a reliable estimate of population size and trends.
For further information see:
Who are our seals? TMG 12(1): June 2009.
Who are our seals? Istanbul workshop presentations online, International News, this issue.
Distribution and abundance, Mediterranean Monk Seal Fact Files, www.monachus-guardian.org.
EndQuote
One in six Mediterranean mammals is threatened with extinction at the regional level, mainly due to the destruction of their habitat from urbanization, agriculture and climate change, nature body IUCN said Tuesday in a new study.
Of the 320 mammal species assessed by the Geneva-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature, 49 were threatened, including 20 that can be found nowhere else in the world, it said in a statement.
Three percent are “critically endangered”, including the Mediterranean monk seal and the Iberian lynx, another five percent are “endangered” and eight percent are “vulnerable”.
“The number one threat is habitat destruction, which affects 90 percent of the threatened species,” said IUCN expert Annabelle Cuttelod, co-author of the report, in a statement released in Spain.
“We need international action to protect key areas and preserve natural habitats to ensure we don’t lose the rich biodiversity in this area,” she added.
One in six Mediterranean mammals face extinction, Agence France Presse, 15 September 2009.
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The editor reserves the right to edit letters for the sake of clarity and space
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