Since the dawn of their existence, seals have coexisted alongside humans in coastal and maritime areas. Specifically, the Mediterranean monk seal, considered one of the most primitive members of the family Phocidae, continues to survive today despite the fluctuations of severe environmental conditions and fishing obstacles. Rejected and feared yet revered and loved, the Mediterranean monk seal has never been overlooked as its mark is evident in some of the oldest writings.
The Mediterranean monk seal, known scientifically as Monachus monachus, belongs to the tribe Monachini and has as its sister species the Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi) and the extinct Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis) (Cebrián Menchero, 1998, pp. 10-23).
It can be said that the point of reference par excellence for Mediterranean seals was the city of Phocaea (Φώκαια), in present-day Turkey. They were the emblem of the πόλις and, indeed, they may have been the reason for its name due to the large number that frequented the gulf. We should also not overlook their role in regions such as Phocis (Φωκίς) and other towns and villages where archaeological sites of seals on coins can be found. Even today, place names honoring them still exist, like Cova del Llop Marí in Tarragona or Grotta del Bue Marino in Sardinia.
On the other hand, the origin of the name «monachus» was initially associated with them being seen moving along beaches like a procession and their humanoid appearance making them look like Christian monks. However, this is an anachronistic association that contemporary experts dismissed as surely incorrect (Johnson and Lavigne, 1999, p. 3). If the name came from these everyday anecdotes, it was probably assigned later, and what is affirmed is that their name must have been associated with the solitary nature conceived of them. Although they were not always like this.
Variety of references are given to vell marí (as it is known in the waters of the Balearics), and these can be contradictory. On Greek beaches, these seals would camp freely and for this reason were consecrated to Apollo, due to one of their favorite tendencies: sunbathing. This led to a correlation with this element. The oldest sources that bring us back to them are undoubtedly the references in the Odyssey, where between verses 398 and following Menelaus recounts his return, when while the sea was stormy he fell asleep under caves next to seals, which are referred to as the offspring of the beautiful daughter of the ocean, possibly Amphitrite. It is also noted that their bodies exude the deepest scent of the sea (ἁλὸς πολυβενθέος ὀδμήν) (Homer, 1919, pp. 148-149).
Even linked to portentous marine deities, there was already some controversy surrounding the expulsion of monk seals from their habitat. We know that they have always fed on a little bit of everything and do not reject any specimen they can swallow (Bartolomé Zofío and Vega, 2000, p. 31), so ancient fishermen could already consider them potential rivals. The social reaction made the relationship between Greek people and these marine mammals be severed, opting for confrontation and, to a large extent, the annihilation of these beings, putting into practice unprecedented search and capture.
However, according to studies on these persecutions, an inkling of guilt in these acts can be perceived through the sources (Johnson and Lavigne, 1999, pp. 8-15), assigning a certain divinization to the seal, with oracular powers and presenting it as accompanying Proteus on his journeys (Grimal, 1981, pp. 456-457), to whom the ability of transforming into one was granted.
On the other hand, their cries were considered bad omens. This subconscious guilt has been theorized as a possible compassion inherent in humans towards an animal that suffers, since it is already testified from the nineteenth century that during capture these animals do not stop crying (Johnson, 2004, p. 71). Apart from this, it has also been confirmed that shame can stem from the tangible physical resemblance to a person.
To get an idea of what a Monachus monachus looks like, one must know that its body measures approximately three meters, it has no ears and its flippers are short. The lanugo of the Mediterranean seal differs according to sex but ranges from grayish in females to dark black in pups and males, and also worth noting is that its snout is more flattened than those of its congeners (Cebrián Menchero, 1998, p. 7). Thus, in antiquity, more than once they were easily spotted from afar due to their enormous size and confused with anthropomorphic beings that would result in collective imagery as nymphs and other mythological entities.
Authors like Aristotle describe the Mediterranean monk seal avidly, describing it as a «mutilated quadruped» (πεπηρωμένον τετράπουν) because it seems to move as if its legs had been amputated (Aristotle, 1937, pp. 182-183) and on more than one occasion emphasizes that seals «are badly made» (κακῶς δ᾿ ἐστίν) (Aristotle, 1937, pp. 540-541).
While the intentions of many of these sources, in opposition to alleviating the guilt previously described, were to justify and redeem human acts against this marine mammal, presenting it as an animal non grato and repulsive, whose prophetic powers made it even more mysterious and feared (Johnson and Lavigne, 1999, p. 20).
As had been done since the Paleolithic era, its skin, fat, and meat were exploited. In ancient towns, however, seal meat was initially not highly valued in the market due to its probable hardness and abundance. Nonetheless, due to seals retreating to rocky areas, little traveled and distant from civilization, seal material became expensive, becoming a special delicacy every few months. In terms of ethology, it is possible that this habitat change led to visible withdrawal and hostility in the behavior of the Mediterranean monk seal.
Virgil mentioned them in his Georgics, as sleeping animals stranded on shores: «sternunt se somno diversae in litore phocae» (Virgil, 1916, pp. 248-249). But really when the Mediterranean monk seal was first exposed to the brink of extinction was during the Roman Empire. Pliny the Elder in Naturalis historia assured that seals had curative and magical properties. One such reference is given in his eighth book, where he assures that their bile has medicinal uses, as well as their curd helps epileptics: «evomit fel suum ad multa medicamenta utile, item coagulum ad comitiales» (Pliny the Elder, 1938, pp. 78-79). This seems to have become a popular belief among Roman people apart from its quality being revalued: seal skin was sold as lightning insulation and protection against evils, especially maritime ones.
To this must be added that, since the time of Roman circuses, many seals, in addition to being domesticated, also found death in the arena alongside other sacrificed animals. Their number declined so much that seal skin and fat became luxury materials, ironically as they had been considered centuries ago (Johnson and Lavigne, 1999, pp. 31-43).
Throughout its existence, the Mediterranean monk seal has been mentioned in numerous sources by other Greco-Roman authors such as Plutarch, Nonnus of Panopolis and others. It has inspired myths and served as a subject for medicinal remedy research. Thus, in later times, it was represented in many works. Indeed, being a wild animal used for food and other resources, it could also coexist peacefully with humans, and the aggression seen when approaching their abandoned territories was merely a defensive reaction caused by human provocation.
Unfortunately, the typical cliché that «history repeats itself» echoes once more, despite how trite and empty such an assertion may be. Humans have always had one flaw: a great need to adapt the environment to themselves. And indeed these seals used to reach Spanish coasts until just some years ago but disappeared due to the little space they were left as a consequence of mass tourism, their rejection in fishing communities, and environmental damage. More than once they have been intoxicated with plastics, pups have fatally injured themselves on rocks or even an entire group has been poisoned by non-edible algae from inhospitable waters where they live.
Currently, programs are being carried out for the reintroduction of the Mediterranean monk seal in Spain's maritime coasts efficiently for sectors since its extinction would be counterproductive. A society aware of preserving its Iberian fauna could help scientists' projects bear fruit.
Ultimately, what this article aims to show is that we are not very different from our predecessors. Cicero already showed compassion for the animals in circuses. And perhaps, this same compassion, respecting them and learning from them, helps us help them at the same time as it also helps ourselves, because that is, for better or worse, what makes us human.
Bibliography
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Jover, A. (November 30, 2020). The fossils that rewrite the history of the monk seal. El País. https://elpais.com/ciencia/2020-11-30/los-fosiles-que-reescriben-la-historia-de-la-foca-monje.html
Muñoz-Santos, M. E. (November 15, 2017). Blood in the arena: animals in ancient Rome. Antiqua Roma al Día. https://antiguaroma.com/animales-antigua-roma/
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