Vol. 7 (2): November 2004

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Seal Appeal

The Monachus Guardian is the only dedicated source of news and information on the world’s endangered monk seals, their shrinking habitat, and the forces threatening their survival.

With a voluntary subscription or a simple donation, you can help us and our partner organisations in the field bring monk seals and their conservation to a growing international audience – decision makers, scientists, schools and universities, journalists and many others.

By acting as a forum for international debate and information exchange between geographically divided groups, monachus-guardian.org fulfils long-established recommendations of conservation action plans for the species.

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Climate Change

Thanks to the financial encouragement of the EC, and a thaw in frosty relations between Aegean neighbours, cooperation between NGOs in Turkey and Greece is at last beginning to take hold,  leading to better monk seal conservation practices in both countries. Full story

“Dakhla Declaration” envisages MPA for Coast of Seals

From 12-15 October, the third meeting of the Working Group coordinating the Monk Seal Action Plan in the Eastern Atlantic was held in Dakhla. The representatives of the range states approved the technical document of the Plan and formulated a document known as the “Dakhla Declaration”, calling for international support for Morocco’s initiative to create a Marine Protected Area at the Coast of Seals. Full story.

Book focus on Hawaiian, Caribbean monk seals

Veteran monk seal conservationists Prof. Keith Ronald (the convener of the landmark 1978 Rhodes International Conference) and Barra L. Gotts are the authors of a book section on Phocidae, Otariidae, and Odobenidae in a recent Wild Mammals of North America publication.

The section includes chapters on the Hawaiian and Caribbean Seal, covering distribution, habitat, feeding habits, behaviour and mortality. It also includes an extensive subsection on seal management including:

• historical background
• international agreements
• international convention protocols
• management policy and application
• population and stock assessment
• fisheries management plans
• international management
• research and management needs
• urbanization and exploration
• drilling and spills
• underwater acoustic effects

Ronald, K. and B.L. Gotts. 2003. Seals. Phocidae, Otariidae, and Odobenidae pages 789-864 in Feldhamer, G.A., Thompson, B.C. and Chapman, J.A. (Eds.) Wild mammals of North America. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London: 1-1216.

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