Monachus Monachus - Museo Civico Di Storia Naturale (Milan)
The Mediterranean monk seal (''Monachus monachus'') is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. , it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the Aegean Sea, the archipelago of Madeira and the Cabo Blanco area in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. It is believed to be the world's rarest pinniped species. This is the only species in the genus ''Monachus''. Description This species of seal grows from approximately long at birth up to an average of as adults, females slightly shorter than males. Males weigh an average of and females weigh , with overall weight ranging from . They are thought to live up to 45 years old; the average life span is thought to be 20 to 25 years old and reproductive maturity is reached at around age four. The monk seals' pups are about long and weigh around , their skin being covered by 1–1.5 centimeter-long, dark brown to black hair. On their bellies, t ...
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Alonnisos Marine Park
The National Marine Park of Alonnisos Northern Sporades ( el, Εθνικό Θαλάσσιο Πάρκο Αλοννήσου Βορείων Σποράδων, ΕΘΠΑΒΣ) was founded by Presidential Decree on May 16, 1992. It was the first of its kind in Greece, and is currently the largest marine protected area in Europe (approximately 2,260 km2). Besides the sea area, the park includes the island of Alonnisos, six smaller islands ( Peristera, Kyra Panagia, Gioura, Psathoura, Piperi and Skantzoura), as well as 22 uninhabited islets and rocky outcrops. It is located in the region of the Northern Sporades Islands, in the northern Aegean Sea. There is one other marine park in Greece, namely Zakynthos Marine Park. History Thomas Schultze-Westrum, a German zoologist and maker of animal documentaries, after a series of exploratory missions to the islands in 1976, noted the great ecological and biological value for the first time and proposed the creation of protected area. Six yea ...
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