Vol. 8 (2): December 2005

Mediterranean monk seal off Ginak Island, The Gambia:
a new sighting at the southern fringe of the known range

Dr. Roy Armstrong
Dr. Owen T Nevin

Centre for Animal Conservation, School of Natural Resources,
University of Central Lancashire, Penrith, CA11 0AH, United Kingdom
Phone: +44-177-289-4121; Fax: +44-177-289-4990
Email: RArmstrong@uclan.ac.uk; ONevin@uclan.ac.uk

On April 13th 2005, we visited the village of Ginak (also spelled Jinak) in the Niumi National Park, The Gambia, with a view to identifying suitable study sites for fieldwork on a range of marine vertebrates.  During the visit we were introduced to Saidou Jammeh, an old fisherman who had worked all of his life in the area around Ginak.  Through an interpreter we interviewed Mr Jammeh about the status of a range of marine vertebrates including West African Manatee, Atlantic Humpback Dolphin and marine turtles.  In view of recent records of Mediterranean Monk Seal in The Gambia, for example a juvenile off the Bijol Islands on November 3rd 1997 (Van Waerebeek et al. 2001), during the interview we also asked about seals.  Mr Jammeh was presented with images of all of our target species and asked whether he was familiar with each and whether they could be seen around Ginak.  Great care was taken not to “lead” Mr Jammeh.  Once he had confirmed the presence of any species, he was questioned about the natural history of each to confirm that he was genuinely familiar with each and not simply telling the interviewer what he wanted to hear.

Mr Jammeh confirmed that West African Manatee, Atlantic Humpback Dolphin and a range of marine turtle species were present; carapaces of Green and Olive Ridley were identified and Leatherback was convincingly described.  He also confirmed that he was familiar with Monk Seals and that he had observed them many times.  To try to rule out misidentification or falsification, he was asked how seals differed from manatees, a species he was clearly very familiar with.  He pointed out that they had a different shaped tail, ate fish, were more “aggressive” and were found around rocky areas and caves.  The latter point was of particular interest as it may indicate a breeding population.  When further questioned about the caves it was not clear whether he was referring to caves on land or caves in rocky areas underwater. Although we explained to our interpreter that it was important to distinguish between caves that might be suitable for breeding and caves meaning underwater rocky areas, difficulties in translation led us to conclude that we could not be certain that Mr Jammeh was referring to suitable breeding areas.  In view of the sensitivity of much of the information we had received, and the fact that we knew we would return in the winter of 2005/2006, we did not push this issue any further.

From the interview, we concluded that Mr Jammeh was familiar with monk seals and that this species was regularly present in the area around Niumi National Park.  As part of the University of Central Lancashire’s Project Gambia, it is anticipated that a fuller picture of the status and distribution of monk seals in The Gambia will be gained in the winter of 2005/2006. To achieve this, boat, questionnaire and shoreline surveys are planned and identification charts will be distributed to fishermen and visiting naturalists with an in-country address for reporting sightings.

References

Van Waerebeek, K. et al. 2001. WAFCET 1 Report. A survey of the conservation status of cetaceans in Senegal, The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. Cetacea Informa 10 (18): 36-38.

Copyright © 2005 Dr. Roy Armstrong, Dr. Owen T Nevin, The Monachus Guardian. All Rights Reserved