Amorgos – June 15th, 2011: The young friendly male Monk Seal appearing in the port of Aegiali at the mid of April quickly won the hearts of the people and became a “mascot” of tourists and also the magazine. On last Friday (June 10th) Dimitris Synodinos (Amorgos Diving Center) alerted that the animal was found dead on the beach.
People from MOm (Greek organization to protect Monk Seals) due to increased ferry occupancy could not travel to Amorgos by themselves. The animal was send to Athens on Saturday for autopsy. The examination at MOm showed that:
It was a young male seal, 6-7 months old, in good nutritional status. The animal had injuries in the back by a sharp object, which crossed the side to reach the thoracic cavity, thus injuring the lung. Histological analysis will give us information on whether the animal eventually died from suffocation or internal bleeding. In any case, death resulted from the trauma deliberately brought to the animal, from close distance.
The MOm stresses in a statement that the Mediterranean monk seal Monachus Monachus is currently the most endangered marine mammal in Europe and is classified as a species facing the danger of extinction. As the species is protected by law, the NGO reserves the right to use all legitimate and legal means against the culprit.
MOm also stated:
“The Amorgos contribution of all was very important and we would like to thank the residents of the island and especially Dimitri Synodinos from Amorgos Diving Center, who all this time informing us of the presence of the animal on Amorgos, George Evangelou the port by the port Aegiali station, who arranged for the maintenance of the animal and Nikitas Roussos, Mayor of Amorgos, who carried th animal on his own to the port and also the crew of Blue Star Paros for their contribution to transport the animal to Athens.”
We are quite shocked by the incidence and hope that in the future attacs against seals will never happen again on Amorgos.
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