seal.watch / madeira

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

13 October

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Markers represent broad named areas, never exact observation locations. Select an area to filter the archive.

1 of 1 reports mapped · 1 area

N ↑Porto Santo · 1 report1
  1. Porto Santo1 report

Map: Natural Earth.

Reports over time

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Select a year, then a month. Counts describe published reports; one animal may appear in several reports.

  1. 12016
  2. 22019

Months in 2016

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  3. 0Mar
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  9. 0Sep
  10. 1Oct
  11. 0Nov
  12. 0Dec

Grouped by each record’s archive date. Approximate dates keep their original labels in the records below.

  1. Porto dos Frades Porto Santo
    Unidentified immature seal RTP Madeira, reporting IFCN nature wardens' observation

    After a tourism boat crew reported a seal, nature wardens observed an immature animal at Porto dos Frades on Porto Santo. It moved around the area for nearly an hour. Mediterranean monk seal · 1 seal