A new postage stamp commemorating the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal has been issued by the Croatian postal service, Hrvatske pošte, reports Jasna Antolovic, of the Zagreb-based NGO Grupa Sredozemna Medvjedica (GSM). The design derives from photographs taken by Gianni Pecchiaro, a volunteer of GSM, at Verudela, Pula.
Despite earlier conjecture that the species might be effectively extinct in Croatian waters — despite sporadic sightings of vagrant animals from Greece or other areas of the Mediterranean — recent research has convinced GSM that as many as 20 monk seals may still survive in Croatian waters.
The stamp (No. 796 – Mediterranean monk seal) appears as part of a Croatian Fauna series issued by Hrvatske pošte.