First record of the harp seal ( Pagophilus groenlandicus) extralimital presence in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

The stranding of a harp seal on the beach in the municipality of Motril (southern Spain) represents the first record of this species in the Mediterranean Sea and the southernmost known report. It was a male which reached the beach very tired and sick, dying after two hours on the sand. The specimen presented three species of epibionts. This is the second species of Arctic seal recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.

First record of Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) in the Mediterranean Sea (Eivissa, Balearic Islands, Spain)

“…In this note, we present the first documentation of a H. grypus in the Spanish Mediterranean coast, specifically in waters of Eivissa Island in the Balearic. Although there are references to sightings in the Mediterranean of North Atlantic pinnipeds such as the Harbor Seal Phoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758 (Fundación CRAM 2008), Hooded Seal Cystophora cristata (Erxleben, 1777) (Bellido et al 2008) and Harp Seal Pagophilus groenlandicus (Erxleben, 1777) (Bellido et al 2009) in the Mediterranean, this is the first observation of H. grypus. At the end of November 2020, punctual sightings of the seal identified as the observed individual were recorded for the first time (Fig 1).…”