Madeira · 2000—2026
Mediterranean monk seal
Madeira’s wild return.
Follow public reports of Madeira’s rare monk seals, known locally as lobo-marinho. Their main refuge is the Desertas Islands, with animals also seen around Madeira’s coast.
About Madeira’s monk seals
In Madeira, Mediterranean monk seals (Monachus monachus) form a small resident population. These seals feed mainly on fish, cephalopods and crustaceans, and depend on quiet coastal waters and sheltered beaches or sea caves for resting, giving birth and nursing—making respectful distance essential to their recovery.
- Total reports
- 129
- Latest observation
Public reports · newest first
Public records archive
23 March 2014—7 September 2026
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17 of 129 reports
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Explore by area
All areasMarkers represent broad named areas, never exact observation locations. Select an area to filter the archive.
105 of 129 reports mapped · 12 areas
- Calheta17 reports
- Calheta waters1 report
- Câmara de Lobos3 reports
- Caniçal1 report
- Caniço1 report
- Desertas Islands17 reports
- Funchal41 reports
- Machico7 reports
- Porto Santo3 reports
- Ribeira Brava1 report
- Santa Cruz12 reports
- Santana1 report
Other reported areas
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Map: Natural Earth.
Reports over time
Select a year, then a month. Counts describe published reports; one animal may appear in several reports.
Grouped by each record’s archive date. Approximate dates keep their original labels in the records below.
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Date: 2026Reported: Unidentified Public
Observation: The monk seal was observed foraging.
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Date: 2026Reported: Unidentified Lobosonda
Observation: Seen resting at the surface during two early-afternoon whale-watching trips.
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Date: 2026Reported: Unidentified Lobosonda
Observation: Surfaced repeatedly near whale-watching boats.
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Date: 2026Reported: Unidentified Lobosonda
Observation: Seen resting and sunbathing at the surface during an afternoon trip.
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Date: 2025Reported: Unidentified Diário de Notícias Madeira
Observation: Sighting: observed inside the marina; no obvious injury was reported.
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Date: 2024Reported: Unidentified juvenile (reported) RTP Madeira
Observation: One lobo-marinho was filmed swimming inside Calheta marina. RTP described it as a juvenile; the age class is the reporter’s attribution. This is separate from the 1 Jun Funchal marina and São Jorge sightings.
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Date: 2023Reported: Unidentified Lobosonda
Observation: Seen with bottlenose dolphins directly in front of the harbour during the 13:30 Stenella trip.
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Date: 2023Reported: Unidentified Lobosonda
Observation: Seen foraging with bottlenose dolphins near the aquaculture facility during the 16:30 Stenella trip.
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Date: 2023Reported: Unidentified Lobosonda
Observation: Seen surfacing to breathe during the 15:00 Ribeira Brava trip; the exact position was not published.
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Date: 2023Reported: Unidentified Lobosonda
Observation: Seen sunbathing on the coast during the 13:30 Ribeira Brava trip.
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Date: 2023Reported: Unidentified Lobosonda
Observation: Listed on both 09:30 trip logs and conservatively counted as one encounter; the source does not confirm whether both boats saw the same animal.
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Date: 2023Reported: Unidentified Lobosonda
Observation: Seen directly in front of the harbour during the 10:00 Ribeira Brava trip.
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Date: 2023Reported: Unidentified Lobosonda
Observation: Surfaced between short dives at the marina entrance and appeared on both boats' trip logs; conservatively counted as one encounter.
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Date: 2021Reported: Same 23-year-old female from the April–May sequence Diário de Notícias Madeira
Observation: Mortality record: found dead after the repeated sightings and treatment sequence.
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Date: 2021Reported: Same unidentified female as the April sequence Diário de Notícias Madeira
Observation: Intervention: the debilitated animal was assessed and medicated by IFCN personnel.
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Date: 2021Reported: Unidentified adult female Diário de Notícias Madeira
Observation: Repeated sighting: the first exact-dated public record in a sequence already underway for roughly a week and a half, followed by the 1 and 17 May records.
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Date:Reported: Metade (source identification) Lobosonda; identification attributed to Madeira Natural Park
Observation: Lobosonda observed a monk seal inside Calheta marina. Its Portuguese account names the animal Metade. A later update describes the same visit and reports that the seal was alive with a neck wound, correcting an earlier mistaken death identification.