Species

The Mediterranean Monk seal, the most endangered marine mammal in Europe!

The Mediterranean Monk seal, Monachus monachus, is the rarest of the 33 seal species on the planet. It is the most endangered marine mammal in Europe, listed as critically endangered in the Red List of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and thus protected through different international conventions. In Greece, the Presidential Decree 67/1981 established the strict protection of the species.

In ancient times, Monachus monachus were found from the Black Sea to the coasts of North Africa and the islands of Macaronesia. Today, Monk seals can only be found in the Ionian, the Aegean Sea and the coast of Cilicia in the north-eastern Mediterranean, the islands of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean and the coast Cabo Blanco in Spanish Sahara.

It is one of the largest seal species in the world. Adults can reach up to 2.8 m in length and weigh as much as 300 kg. Their reproduction behaviour is different between females and males, while sexual maturity is reached at 3 – 4 years of age for females and 5 – 6 years for males. Gestation lasts approximately 10 months and Mediterranean Monk seals give birth only to one pup per year (newborns weigh 15 – 18 kg), always on land.

Although Monk seals spend the majority of their life in open waters, they also use caves, especially ones with submarine entrances, to rest, reproduce and most importantly to nurture their newborns.

Greece hosts the largest European population of the endangered Mediterranean Monk seal and is estimated to approximately 300 individuals, which is over 50% of the total population at a global level. We thus have to focus our efforts, towards the conservation and protection of the critically endangered species.

Dozens of studies on the distribution of the species have confirmed the existence of Monk seal populations in many island and coastal areas. Monachus monachus face numerous threats, mainly related to human activities:
o    Deliberate killing.
o    Drowning from accidental entanglement in fishing gear.
o    Overfishing.
o    Habitat degradation and destruction.
o    Pollution.
o    Natural disasters.

Octopus, one of the Smartest Invertebrates of the Planet!

The octopus has an impressive and complex neurological system of 50 million neurons, 2/3 of which can be found at its tentacles and not the central brain. A master in camouflage tactics, depending on its surroundings, but also its moods, the octopus can change color and texture in an instant. The octopus is one of the smartest and biggest invertebrates of the planet and one of the most interesting animals of the Greek seas.

(c) Wild Wonders of Europe/Linda Pitkin/WWF

Octopuses can learn, remember, mimic, and even solve problems and are thus protected in the UK (by the Animals Scientific Procedures Act of 1886) since the 19th century. It is prohibited to use octopuses in experiments without an anesthetic.

The common octopus, Octopus vulgaris, is but one of the 250 species of octopuses in the world, distributed throughout the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. It lives in depths of up to 200 meters and already from Homer’s time, they were part of humans’ diet. According to the latest scientific data, this is equally true for the Mediterranean Monk seal, who has it as the most preferred species in its diet.