Mediterranean Monk Seal

The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) is a pinniped belonging to the Phocidae family. At some 450–510 (fewer than 600) remaining individuals, it is believed to be the world's second-rarest pinniped (second only to the Saimaa ringed seal), and one of the most endangered mammals in the world.

It is present in parts of the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean waters around the Tropic of Cancer, as well.

Read more about Mediterranean Monk Seal:  Description, Diet, Habitat, Status, Preservation, Conservation, Sightings

Famous quotes containing the words monk and/or seal:

    At the time there was a claustral monk named Frere Jean of the Hashes, who was young, gallant, joyful, good natured, dextrous, bold, adventurous, thoughtful, tall, thin, with a capacious mouth, gifted in the nose, a great dispatcher of hours, quite an accomplisher of masses, a quick doer-in of vigils,—to put it in a nutshell, a true monk if ever there’s been one since this monk of a world first monked out a monk; moreover, a cleric to his very teeth in matters of the breviary.
    François Rabelais (1494–1553)

    Don’t forget that even our most obscene vices nearly always bear the seal of sullen greatness.
    Gesualdo Bufalino (b. 1920)