Category: Mediterranean Monk Seal

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Monk seal sighting at Giglio Island

by Luigi Bundone and Luigi Guarrera, Gruppo Foca Monaca
Giglio Island, Italy, 7 June 2009 (Photo Marco Prete)
Giglio Island, Italy, 7 June 2009 (Photo Marco Prete)

Last Sunday 7 June, in the waters of Giglio Island, Tuscan Archipelago, another individual was sighted not far from the tower of Giglio Campese. The encounter lasted for about two hours, thanks in part to the considerate attitude shown by people present during the event. Franca Zanichelli, the Director of the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago, released a short interview to the Italian press agency ANSA: “I am really enthusiastic, we have immediately verified the sighting together with GFM Italia, a group we cooperate with since a long time. In fact I am not so much surprised by the news: I am pretty aware that, even if these animals are rare, they still live in our sea. And the behaviour of the observers was very good, they did not disturb the seal, receiving as a perfect gift in exchange an experience that would represent an impossible dream for many naturalists”.

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Rare monk seal spotted

Press watch — ANSA, June 9, 2009

Endangered species disappeared from Italy 20 years ago

(ANSA) – Grosseto, June 9 – An extremely rare example of a Mediterranean monk seal, believed to be the world’s most endangered pinniped, has been spotted off the Tuscan island of Giglio. […]

”It showed off for about two hours, surfacing and diving, coming and going,” said Marco Prete, who was among tourists sunbathing on rocks when the seal appeared and managed to take some shots with his camera.

”Luckily there were only a few of us there to see it, and nobody decided to jump in the water so it could enjoy itself undisturbed just a few metres from the rocks,” he told the local Giglio News.

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Ocean trash problem ‘far from being solved,’ U.N. says

Press Watch — CNN, June 8, 2009

The world’s oceans are full of trash, causing “tremendous” negative impacts on coastal life and ecology, according to a U.N. report released Monday.

The oceans will continue to fill up with junk discarded from cities and boats without urgent action to address this buildup of marine debris, the United Nations Environment Programme says in a report titled “Marine Litter: A Global Challenge.”

Current efforts to address the problem are not working, and the issue is “far from being solved,” the report says. […]

The ocean litter is a problem for coastal communities, which rely on clean beaches for tourism dollars and to boost quality of life for their residents, the report says. Ocean trash also affects marine life and degrades human health.

Sea turtles, for example, think plastic grocery bags are jellyfish when the bags are floating in the ocean. An untold number of the turtles and other creatures, such as Hawaii’s endangered monk seal, swallow the bags and suffocate, drown or starve, said Holly Bamford, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s marine debris program.

Full article

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JUST PUBLISHED: The Monachus Guardian, June 2009

Cover Story: Freedom at last for KP2
Cover Story: Freedom at last for KP2

We have now published the June 2009 issue of The Monachus Guardian, the biannual electronic journal focusing on the Mediterranean, Hawaiian and Caribbean monk seals. The site can be accessed at http://www.monachus-guardian.org.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CURRENT ISSUE:

Guest Editorial: Monk seal: metaphor for the Mediterranean ecosystem, by Ali Cemal Gücü…

International News: IUCN World Congress votes overwhelmingly for monk seal action — but will its own specialist group pay any heed? …. plus, Who are our seals? Moving towards a standardized population estimate approach for Monachus monachus — a report on the ECS Workshop in Istanbul.

Hawaiian News: Ecosystem healthy; monk seals plunging…

Mediterranean News: Croatia: Comeback sightings… Greece: STOP PRESS | Artemis found dead on Skiathos… Turkey: Badem undergoes veterinary treatment… Mauritania: Open beach observations on the rise in Cabo Blanco…

Cover Story: Freedom at last for KP2, the first successfully released hand-reared Hawaiian monk seal, by David Schofield…

In Focus I: Artemis diary, by Eugenia Androukaki…

In Focus II: Our monk seal ambassador, ‘Desertinha’, dies in Madeira, by Rosa Pires…

Perspectives I: Our Sea, Our Life, by Konstantinos Mentzelopoulos…

Perspectives II: The 1st International Conference for Marine Mammal Protected Areas: a long overdue workshop on both Monachus species, by Spyros Kotomatas, Vangelis Paravas, Harun Güçlüsoy and Rosa Pires…

Letters to the Editor: Volunteering and internships in monk seal conservation…

Recent Publications.

The current and back issues of The Monachus Guardian are also available from the Monk Seal Library http://www.monachus-guardian.org/library.htm and may either be viewed on-line, or downloaded as PDF files.

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Artemis found dead on Skiathos

Orphaned monk seal pup ‘Artemis’ has been found dead on Skiathos in the Northern Sporades.

The body was discovered on 14 May 2009, floating in Skiathos harbour. It was transferred the same day to Athens for necropsy, conducted by Prof. Dr. Thijs Kuiken, a veterinary pathologist specialising in marine mammals from Erasmus University, Rotterdam.

The necropsy established that Artemis was in excellent nutritional condition and overall health, with a body weight normal for her age. There was clear evidence that the seal had died as a result of drowning – most probably the result of becoming entangled in fishing gear.

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Artemis calling…

Artemis has sent her first SMS messages back to base, according to MOm researchers, indicating that the pup, released last Saturday, remains in the core zone of the National Marine Park of Alonissos, Northern Sporades. Stay tuned for further details…