The monk seal has returned to swim in our waters
Environment — di Lorenzo Brenna
The last sighting of the rare pinniped, the only one present in the Mediterranean, is said to have occurred in Campania, in the Gulf of Gaeta.
The monk seal has returned to swim in our waters
The last sighting of the rare pinniped, the only one present in the Mediterranean, is said to have occurred in Campania, in the Gulf of Gaeta.
The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus Hermann) owes its name to the colouring of its coat, which is said to resemble a monastic habit, and is an extremely rare creature (rarer than the Bengal tiger, to put it in perspective) considered to be critically endangered. Once, these animals could be observed along the entire coastline of the Mediterranean Sea; fewer than five hundred individuals are thought to survive in the wild today, though estimates vary.
The causes of the monk seal's decline
The main threats to the species are habitat destruction and anthropogenic pressure along coastlines. The sharp decline of the species has also been driven by pollution, more or less accidental captures by fishermen, and low genetic variability, which results in a high rate of neonatal mortality. The sociable and curious nature of seals would, finally, make them a perfect target for poachers.
The latest sighting
A monk seal is said to have been spotted on 9 July by Vincenzo Sibillo; the man was aboard a small boat approximately five hundred metres from the coast of Cuma, in the Gulf of Gaeta, together with his brother and two friends. He first reported the sighting to the editorial team at Greenreport, and then contacted the Gruppo Foca Monaca Onlus, a non-profit association that monitors the presence of the monk seal in the Mediterranean. According to Emanuele Coppola of the Gruppo Foca Monaca, one of the foremost experts on this animal, based on the detailed account provided, "it should be a Mediterranean monk seal."
A positive sign
"On the basis of certain specific indications, it could be hypothesised that the animal observed was a young individual, probably under two years of age," commented the conservation association. The report of a monk seal represents positive news and confirms the positive trend for the species, with the hope that spotting one will soon no longer be such an exceptional event.
New individual spotted in the Egadi Islands marine protected area
The sighting in the Gulf of Gaeta is not the only recent one: a monk seal was in fact photographed in the Egadi Islands by camera traps installed by Ispra and the managers of the Area marina protetta Isole Egadi. The sighting dates to last winter; from the images, according to experts, it appears to be a sub-adult to adult individual with morphological characteristics different from the individual recorded by the camera traps in 2011. The area in question is therefore particularly popular with these rare pinnipeds, given that the presence of more than one individual has been recorded in recent years.