Phantom of the Mediterranean: The Monk Seal
The Mediterranean monk seal is the rarest mammal in Europe and one of the most endangered animal species in the world.
Only a few hundred of these shy creatures remain, inhabiting the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic coast of Mauritania. The only other population of monk seals is found in the waters around Hawaii though this represents a different subspecies.
The most significant Mediterranean monk seal colonies are located in the Northern Sporades Marine National Park and throughout the Cyclades islands, as well as off the Turkish Aegean coast (though precise population data for the latter are unavailable). While a colony of 10 seals is considered large within the Mediterranean, the Mauritanian colony still numbers around 300 individuals. They face a variety of threats:
Direct Persecution
Coastal fishermen have long persecuted monk seals, as the animals sometimes tear through fishing nets to reach the coveted catch. The holes they leave behind made by their flippers are unmistakable. On average, it takes two days to repair such a net. For coastal fishermen, fishing is no longer a profitable livelihood; marine pollution and exploitative practices such as the use of driftnets and trawls have left once-abundant fishing grounds depleted. It is all the more devastating for these fishermen when seals help themselves to their meager catch.
Spearfishers
Unscrupulous spearfishers many arriving from Italy continue to visit the Greek coastline, wreaking havoc on the underwater environment. Although this is prohibited, who is there to monitor activities underwater? Furthermore, these "heroes" often possess more powerful boats than the harbor police. While they may not hunt the seals, they cause significant disturbance to these shy animals. For the pups, being separated from their mothers for extended periods can prove fatal.
Exploitative Fishing Practices
Trawling nets scrape the seabed bare, while driftnets stretching for kilometres strip entire marine areas of life. This leaves little food for monk seals and dolphins, which also frequently become entangled in these driftnets, suffering a miserable death by suffocation when they are unable to surface to breathe.
Marine Pollution
Waste and chemicals are dumped on the high seas; rivers carry trash and environmental toxins into the ocean; and many coastal towns still lack sewage treatment plants. All of this severely impacts marine flora and fauna. Larger marine mammals such as seals, dolphins, and whales are particularly affected by this heavy pollution, becoming more susceptible to disease and, in some regions, struggling to find sufficient food.
Strategies for Saving the Monk Seal
For nearly a decade, the European Nature Heritage Foundation (EURONATUR) has been working to save the monk seal. Its most significant successes to date have been achieved in the Northern Sporades Marine National Park a protected area that EURONATUR helped to establish. On the island of Alonnisos, EURONATUR has set up a conservation station that serves as a base for Greek conservationists. This site also hosted the preparatory work for the park’s zoning and its protective regulations. Additionally, the station acts as a hub for visitors interested in nature. Environmental education initiatives and nature conservation seminars have raised public awareness and paved the way for "soft" (sustainable) tourism development. Two years ago, EuroNatur established a nature trail on Alonnisos.
Most importantly, however, conservationists forged an alliance with the local coastal fishermen the very group that had initially been the park’s staunchest opponents. They reached an agreement: large-scale commercial fishing fleets would be kept out of the national park, provided the fishermen, in turn, spared the seals. A close partnership has existed ever since; the fishermen now even assist in monitoring the national park. Furthermore, harbour police now take firm action against illegal fishing methods and other violations of park regulations no longer fighting a losing battle as they once did.
A contribution by EuroNatur
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