Newsgroups: sci.bio.conservation Subject: Re: Mediterranean Monk Seal From: uozesmi@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Uygar Ozesmi) Date: Mon, 13 Nov 1995 22:22:43 -0400 In article <1995Nov6.132505.25941@fozzie.eurocontrol.fr>, conssub@u.washington.edu (Conservation Biology Discussion Group) wrote: > From: > Date: Mon, 6 Nov 1995 13:25:05 GMT > > I am seeking information on the endangered Mediterranean Monk Seal. > > How many are left? > What is the chance that they can be conserved? > Are there any efforts to help them or keep them in captivity? > > Thanks for any help. There are about 250 left (estimate) most of them are around the coasts of of Turkey. I have been in abandoned seal caves :) If you want more info Contact Dogal Hayati Koruma Dernegi Foca Subesi Foca, Izmir, Turkey if no reply contact DHKD PK. 18 Bebek Istanbul Turkey Good Luck Uygar Ozesmi
Harun Guclusoy sent me the following information about the protection of Monk Seals at Foca in Turkey.
Their Life Span: not known exactly, some say 25, some 40 years.
Sighting Frequency: depends on whom is observing (fishermen, researcher, local) and the place. For instance, mainly in September and October in Foca whenever I go for field I observe the seals; on the other hand, some months you can't see anything.
Captivity: Captive breeding is still under discussion, past attempts to keep them in zoos have been unsuccessful and for the moment it is illegal.
I also add 3 copies of our project's newsletter which you can use on the WWW page. Would you please be so kind as to send us the reaction of this system's readers for the topic. It will be very interesting for us to see the results.
Here are some highlights from the newsletters
The WWF Foca Project TR0015 started in July 1993. The project was initiated in agreement with The National Action Plan for the protection of the Mediterranean monk seal in Turkey. This overall plan was prepared and elaborated by The Turkish National Committee of the Mediterranean Monk Seal in 1990.
The Tulay, a boat which makes boat trips with tourists every day, sailed out on a beautiful day, the 1st of June. There were about 15 people on the boat and around noon they saw a monk seal close to the famous Siren Rocks! Everybody was very excited and taking pictures. The captain, Fazli Dagli, slowed down the boat and changed his direction in order not to disturb the monk seal, who was lying in the water, enjoying the sun. The captain, whose boat is chartered by NemTour travel agency, allows us every day to visit the tourists before sailing, so one of our staff members can give some information about the monk seal and the protection activities. Also the captain sells our T-shirts and monk seal figures on his boat. And, then, on this day, a monk seal appears right in front of the boat! What better way is there to say thank you for your help?
During the observation cruises made on the Mersin coast, the massacre of fish with TNT type explosives appeared as a dramatic phenomenon. Although a great portion of the fish killed this way cannot be collected from the bottom of the sea and despite the risk of the death or severe injury of the handler, fishing with explosives is widely practised due to ease of use and particularly to insufficient coast guarding. As one of the reasons that brought the monk seal to the border of extinction, the dramatic decline in fish stocks stands as a result of such practices, which in turn appear as economic problems for local fishermen.
Again, during the observations mentioned above, a
group of academic staff and medical doctors illegally
fishing at night by Scuba and underwater torches brings
one to the point of realizing that the intellectuals of
our society as well as the local people are in need
of education and awareness of the necessity for the
protection of nature.
Sinan Husrevoglu - Mersin
An important problem for the existence of monk seals in the Mersin area has arisen during the summer as the tourist activities increase along the coast line. We experienced a drastic example of this in August. A group of young people were having a picnic, burning fire, dancing, swimming and diving on and around a seal cave, in which seals are encountered frequently. We believe that those people were only enjoying the beautiful nature on land and underwater without knowing that they might cause the seal to abandon that unique and very last habitat in the area. But on the other hand, if a sign is dropped to the area indicating that a seal family inhabits that cave, or even protection is established, unless very efficient control is achieved, it is very likely that more and more people come to visit the cave to see that rare animal.
This event underlines the fact that education and public
awareness studies play a vital role in conservation of
the Mediterranean Monk Seal.
Fatma Telli Karakoc and Faith Karakoc
Solid wastes, especially plastic substances are important reasons of sea pollution with their persistent structure. Waste disposal from ships or land causing plastic input to sea may have many other adverse effects other than those known by everyone.
During one of our regular cave surveys on July 29th, we
entered a cave that we have discovered before and had found
very suitable for monk seal. We saw that the inside was full
of plastic bags mixed with tar balls. There was no place for
seal to live, not even to move, neither on the platform nor
in the water. This case shows that from time to time, with
the effects of the currents, these important habitats are
being filled with such materials and cause a nonsuitable
environment for seal, till the dynamics of water reclean
inside. Instead of coastal disposal of wastes, application of
separation / gridding / deposition / recycling techniques
and minimization of plastic utilization is very important
from the point of sea ecology and monk seal.
Yesim Coban
This page was last updated 17 November 1996.