The Critically Endangered Mediterranean Monk Seal – the world’s most endangered pinniped – has enjoyed a bumper breeding season in Greece.
Field researchers from the Hellenic Agency for Natural Environment and Climate Change (OFYPEKA) recorded 21 newborn pups across key sites in the National Marine Park of Alonissos and Northern Sporades, far exceeding the average annual pup count documented during nearly four decades of monitoring.
The core pupping habitats on the islet of Piperi – a strictly protected zone – and south-eastern Skopelos provided much of this year’s haul of sightings, a figure that conservationists describe as a statistical anomaly when compared with long-term data.
Mediterranean Monk Seal has enjoyed a bumper breeding season in Greece, the stronghold of the Critically Endangered mammal (Marinko Babić).
World’s rarest seal
Mediterranean Monk Seal endured a dramatic decline in the late 20th century, with global numbers dipping below 600 individuals in the early 1990s and the species receiving Critically Endangered status.
Since then, decades of concerted conservation – including establishment of protected marine areas, strict no-entry zones around pupping sites and collaboration between public bodies, NGOs and local stakeholders – have helped stabilise and increase numbers in Greek waters, which now support roughly half of the global population.
OFYPEKA chief executive Kostas Triantis described the latest results as the product of long-term planning, sustained monitoring and effective management, noting that the success in the Sporades is becoming a blueprint for wider marine protected area work in the Aegean and Ionian Seas.
Despite the welcome news, Mediterranean Monk Seal remains vulnerable, with threats including habitat disturbance, fishing gear entanglement and human pressure in. Populations are disparate and isolated, too. Continued protection is essential to maintain this upward trajectory.