“We saw one just now, right here in the bay. You should make your way down as soon as possible,” says João Martins excitedly through the phone. Martins is a local diving instructor who has sworn to share any monk seal sightings with us. We hop in our rental car and drive straight to Pedra D’eira beach in Caniçal. There, in the middle of the bay, just metres from a busy beach where people are enjoying their Sunday afternoon with drinks and music, we spot its short snout and large head bobbing in the water. Just as quickly as it appeared, it dives back down and disappears in the azure water. “If it stays in the bay, it should come up for its next breath of air within 12 minutes,” says Nuno Vasco Rodrigues, a marine biologist and underwater photographer who I’m on this assignment with. Having spent days on the water without any luck, we have finally seen a glimpse of our first elusive monk seal.

One of the largest seals in the world, monk seals can reach 3m in length and can weigh up to 350kg. As females only have one pup per year, the species is especially vulnerable to extinction. Like elsewhere around the world, seeing a monk seal around Madeira is incredibly rare. First spotted by Portuguese navigators as early as the 15th century around the Portuguese archipelago, monk seals were extensively hunted for their skin and blubber. Today’s major threats to these mammals include “displacement and habitat deterioration, deliberate killing by humans, and fisheries bycatch and entanglement”, according to information shared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

As of 2022, it was estimated that only 600 to 700 Mediterranean monk seals remain across its distribution range, encompassing the eastern Mediterranean and some parts of the Northeast Atlantic, such as Cabo Blanco and Madeira. In Cabo Blanco, for example, the current abundance of monk seals is thought to represent a mere 3% of its historic abundance. Here in Madeira and the nearby Desertas Islands, researchers believe that only around 20 to 24 individuals remain.

Located around 26km from the eastern tip of Madeira, the Desertas Islands are made up of three small uninhabited islands – Ilhéu Chão, Deserta Grande and Bugio – which together form the Desertas Islands Nature Reserve, a classification awarded in 1995. Since then, the islands that are part of the Natura 2000 Network, have enjoyed full protection status.