Author: Editor

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POP QUIZ: How did the Monk Seal Find its Name?

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Over the years, there has been much confusion over the origins of the monk seal’s name, as well as many imaginative explanations. Here are a few to be going on with. Can you identify the correct answer? If you think you can, please post your answer below. We’ll be posting our reply about a week from now.

How did the Monk Seal Find its Name?

(1) Because the black seal with the white belly patch was reminiscent of the robes of a monastic community.

(2) Because the monk seal is shy and retiring, living a “monastic” lifestyle.

(3) Because of the folds of fat around the neck of the seal were reminiscent of a monk’s hood or scapular.

(4) Because the rows of seals stretched out lazily on the sands reminded Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder of a procession of hooded monks.

(5) None of the above.

To answer these and other historical puzzles on the Mediterranean monk seal, you may wish to read our illustrated two-volume “Monk Seal Histories”, available here in PDF format.

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First pup of 2013 spends 24 hours in Desertas Islands Rehabilitation Unit

by Rosa Pires, Parque Natural da Madeira Service
The pup resting on Tabaqueiro beach, Desertas Islands. Photo: PNMS.
The pup resting on Tabaqueiro beach, Desertas Islands. Photo: PNMS.

We are now in the monk seal pupping season in Madeira’s Desertas Islands. Over recent years, peak births have occurred in October, but this year we detected the first pup on 31 October. This pup was observed over 4 days to be always alone, resting on the same beach – Tabaqueiro. When on one day it was considered to be overly lethargic, it was decided to take the pup to the Rehabilitation Unit on the Desertas Islands. Fortunately, this allowed us to confirm that the pup was in a good condition; a male about three weeks of age, 114cm in length and weighing around 20kg. Awaiting better sea conditions, the young seal was released into its natural habitat the following day. Immediately entering the sea, it swam to the cave where we believe it was born – Tabaqueiro cave, considered the monk seal maternity cave of the Desertas Islands. Continue reading “First pup of 2013 spends 24 hours in Desertas Islands Rehabilitation Unit”

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Pup trapped in gill net released in the ‘Coast of Seals’ Reserve

by CBD-Habitat Foundation

The ‘Costa de las Focas’ Marine and Coastal Reserve was created in 2001 by CBD-Habitat Foundation with the support of local fishermen and regional authorities, with the objective of protecting the breeding caves of the last Mediterranean monk seal colony in the world, located on the Cabo Blanco peninsula (Mauritania). Since then, every single day, the surveillance team has been present to prevent the setting of fishing gear and deter goose barnacle pickers and other potential threats or disturbance to the breeding caves and vicinity. Continue reading “Pup trapped in gill net released in the ‘Coast of Seals’ Reserve”

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Wounded Madeiran monk seal returns to the sea

by Rosa Pires, Parque Natural da Madeira Service


On 27 August 2013 a Mediterranean monk seal was found in a weakened state at Porto Moniz, on the northern coast of Madeira island.

This seal, known as “Half”, an adult male who has been monitored since 1997 by PNMS (Parque Natural da Madeira Service), was observed by local people on a small stony beach, its debilitated state apparently due to a severe injury in the neck area. Continue reading “Wounded Madeiran monk seal returns to the sea”

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Sketchy details provided of new EU life project for Giaros

WWF Greece, MOm and its Greek and international partners announced the launch of a new protected area management project centred around the uninhabited island of Giaros in the Cyclades islands this week. Although long on PR and short on detail, the press release is keen to stress the perceived benefits of the MPA to neighbouring island development (Syros and Andros in particular), in tourism and fisheries management, by taking a “holistic” approach to conservation and economic opportunity. Giaros, a former military zone and prison island, has since become a Natura 2000 protected area, and is an important Mediterranean monk seal colony. The project, “Cyclades LIFE”, is funded by the European Commission’s LIFE funding mechanism, and by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

The island of Giaros, as seen from Syros.
The island of Giaros, as seen from Syros.

Further information

WWF Greece. Cyclades LIFE: A ground-breaking initiative for sustainable growth and the conservation of nature in the Cyclades. Press Release, 15 July 2013.

Konstantinos Mentzelopoulos. Our Sea, Our Life. The Monachus Guardian 12 (1): June 2009.

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Park expresses disgust over shooting

In a press release posted on its Facebook page, the Management Body of the National Marine Park of Alonnisos Northern Sporades (NMPANS), has expressed its disgust and regret over an incident which saw a Coast Guard officer spray automatic gunfire at semi-wild goats at Planitis in the internationally-recognised monk seal protected area. The President of the Management Body has stated that the Park will now determine what course of action to take against those responsible for the incident.

The NMPANS is regarded as one of the most important monk seal breeding habitats in the Mediterranean.

Originally posted on YouTube — apparently by the perpetrators themselves — video of the shooting spree provoked widespread condemnation. Although the video has since been removed by the user from YouTube, it is still available on other channels.

Conservationists are now left to wonder whether this was a “one-off” incident — or whether other offences may have been committed, possibly within the Core Zone of the Park. As TMG has reported on many previous occasions, with chronic funding shortages facing the NMPANS Management Body, effective guarding and monitoring remains essentially non-existent. Annual monk seal pup counts have not been taken for years, rendering any reliable assessment of the population or conservation measures, impossible.

Video: katsikopolemos 2