Mediterranean monk seal predation by a white shark

Recent Publications

Pujol, Juan A. 2015. Un antiguo caso de predación de foca monje mediterránea adulta, Monachus monachus (Hermann, 1779) por tiburón blanco, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758) en las Islas Baleares, España. Bol. R. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. 109: 71-74. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296467824_Un_antiguo_caso_de_predacion_de_foca_monje_mediterranea_adulta_Monachus_monachus_Hermann_1779_por_tiburon_blanco_Carcharodon_carcharias_Linnaeus_1758_en_las_Islas_Baleares_Espana]

Abstract
In 1906, a white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) was accidental [sic] trapped in Ciutadella (Balearic Islands). In its stomach was found an adult Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus), being the first chronological case of predation between both species in the Mediterranean sea.

Resumen
En 1906 un ejemplar de tiburón blanco (Carcharodon carcharias) fue atrapado accidentalmente en la almadraba de Ciudadela (Islas Baleares). En su estómago fue encontrado un adulto de foca monje mediterránea (Monachus monachus), constituyendo cronológicamente el primer caso de predación entre ambas especies en el Mediterráneo.

Sighting in Mallorca

5931e0c9-fd48-4759-88d9-533a05e0ee78.jpgIt was an exceptional event by any standards, yet even more so when one realises that the Mediterranean monk seal has been considered extinct in Spain and the Balearic Islands for more than half a century.

In what may turn out to be a pivotal moment in the species’ future recolonisation of the Balearics, a confirmed sighting of a single Mediterranean monk seal was made in the marine reserve of Isla del Toro, Mallorca, at 11.30 hrs on 15 June.

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