The Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus: status, biology, threats, and conservation priorities

Abstract

The Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus is the most endangered seal species. In this review we summarize the status, ecology, and behaviour of the Mediterranean monk seal, and identify the main threats that currently affect the species and the conservation priorities for securing its survival. Once abundant throughout the Black Sea and Mediterranean, as well as off the Atlantic coasts of northwestern Africa and Macaronesia, the Mediterranean monk seal has recently suffered dramatic declines, both in abundance and geographical range. It is now estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the eastern and western Mediterranean, the archipelago of Madeira and the Cabo Blanco area in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Mediterranean monk seals are coastal marine mammals. When resting and pupping on land, individuals generally seek refuge in inaccessible marine caves; this behaviour is, in part, believed to be an adaptation to increased disturbance by humans. Larger aggregations or colonies of the species can now be found only at Cabo Blanco in the Atlantic Ocean and on the island of Gyaros in the eastern Mediterranean. The main threats to the survival of the Mediterranean monk seal are habitat deterioration; deliberate killing, mainly by fishermen; and accidental entanglement and drowning in fishing gear. Limited availability of food sources and stochastic and unusual events have occasionally also contributed to Mediterranean monk seal mortality. Based on a common consensus among scientists and conservationists, the main conservation priorities for the monk seal are: habitat protection; mitigating negative interactions between seals and fisheries; scientific research and monitoring of local seal populations; education and public awareness campaigns; and rescue and rehabilitation of wounded, sick, and orphaned seals.

Assembling Ecological Pieces to Reconstruct the Conservation Puzzle of the Aegean Sea

“…Such information is only available for seabirds, cetaceans, monk seals, and sea turtles, owing to the committed work conducted by the respective environmental non-governmental organizations (e.g., Frantzis, 2009;Karamanlidis et al, 2015). However, despite the large amount of existing scientific evidence, no specific management measures have been implemented so far to enhance the conservation of these species.…”

“…The population size of the endangered monk seal in Greece is currently estimated at ∼300 individuals (Karamanlidis et al, 2015). Nowadays, monk seal sightings are widely distributed throughout the Aegean and the Ionian seas (MOm, unpublished data).…”

Individual signatures in the vocal repertoire of the endangered Mediterranean monk seal: new perspectives for population monitoring

“…Here, we found that barks produced by females and pups are individualized, and therefore could be involved in mother−pup recognition, thus facilitating reunions when females return from foraging. Allo-nursing and fostering seem to be common in Mediterranean monk seals (Karamanlidis et al 2016), so this behaviour cannot be explained by a lack of individuality in their vocalizations, but may be a lack of vocal discrimination abilities, as found in the Hawaian monk seal (Job et al 1995). Screams are mainly produced during agonistic interactions, so signalling individual identity might not be essential for both receivers and emitters.…”

“…Mediterranean monk seals in Greece have recently shown encouraging signs of population recovery (Karamanlidis et al 2016), a fact that poses new challenges for the research and management of the species in the country. If the results of this study, combined with further research, enable the unequivocal identification of individual seals, then passive acoustic monitoring could help overcome some of the common limitations encountered with the traditional methods used to monitor the species and would prove to be, on its own and/or in combination with other methodologies, a powerful tool in the effective monitoring and conservation of the Mediterranean monk seal.…”

“…Following decades of teetering on the brink of extinction, the species has recently been showing encouraging signs of population recovery in the main areas of its distribution (Karamanlidis et al 2016) and is now classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Endangered . This new conservation reality poses new challenges for the monitoring, management and conservation of the Mediterranean monk seal, especially in a rapidlysignals can be very useful in developing monitoring methods in order to detect the presence of a target species, evaluate the number of individuals and estimate population structure (Mellinger et al 2007, Blumstein et al 2011).…”