The Department of Fisheries and Marine Research (DFA), in a statement following recent reports of sightings of Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus individuals in the coastal area of Ayia Napa on social media, expresses its concerns for the species in order to protect the beautiful but vulnerable iconic species that Cyprus waters are home to.
The Mediterranean Seal Monitoring Team, which is composed of specialized staff from the Departments of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, has been implementing an intensive monitoring programme since 2010, with visits to the sea caves, noting the presence of individuals, as well as any signs of cave use by seals (e.g.The Monitoring Team, according to the announcement, has recorded all the shelters used by the species throughout the Cyprus coastline and with the help of special equipment, monitoring is carried out on a 24-hour basis and, in addition, a database is maintained at TAThe, in which seal sightings around the island are noted.
The Monitoring Team, according to the announcement, has recorded all the shelters used by the species throughout the Cyprus coastline and with the help of special equipment, monitoring is carried out on a 24-hour basis and in addition, a database is maintained at TAThe, in which seal sightings around the island are noted. With the use of light traps and live feed cameras installed in the sea caves, it is possible to monitor the species with minimal human intervention in its shelters.
For the Ayia Napa area, the monitoring team, in recent years with the installation of the cameras, maintains a record of individuals visiting the caves in the area and the absolute need for humans to understand and respect the need to isolate the animals using the area and not to intrude in any way either within their shelters (especially during this sensitive breeding period) or in the area in general.
"The risks are too many, for example the abandonment of newborns by their mothers resulting in their death from starvation, up to the abandonment of their safe shelter and transfer from their mothers to another, unsuitable place due to constant disturbance by the human presence. Let us not be the cause of losing even one life of these iconic species of our land so that they can continue to adorn the Cypriot seas and the biodiversity of our land. Any disturbance will lead them to other areas and perhaps outside Cyprus which none of us wish for," the Fisheries Department says.
We must always bear in mind that the behaviour of animals is significantly affected by human presence and therefore we should respect their presence without interfering with their habitat, it adds.
The Department of Fisheries invites citizens in case of sighting of Mediterranean Seals in Cyprus to send the relevant data/data of the sighting to the email mmarcou@dfmr.moa.gov.cy while in case of sighting of an injured or dead animal you can contact 24205907 and 22805532.
The Mediterranean seal is the rarest of the 33 species of seals in the world and is protected by national, European and international legislation. It is included in the IUCN Red List as an "endangered" species and is considered the number one threatened marine mammal in Europe. In Cyprus, its population is around 19 individuals.
The Mediterranean seal prefers rocky and inaccessible coasts and sea caves, where it is provided with isolation and quiet. Although it spends most of its life at sea, it uses terrestrial habitats for both resting and breeding. The existence of such terrestrial habitats in an area is considered an important factor for the survival of the species and they need protection.
The Mediterranean monk seal has always been an element of the biodiversity of Cyprus. However, from the 1960s until the end of the 2010s, sightings of the species were rare and there was no evidence of breeding activity. Since 2011 the species seems to be recovering in the Cypriot seas and has now established a local, albeit small, but breeding population.
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