Filenews 28 March 2025
On Friday morning, the Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus, named "Panagis", arrived at Larnaca Airport on a flight from Greece. 'Panagis' was located and rescued last November in an area of the Famagusta district after the death of its mother, in order to be released into the Cypriot seas.
Panagis, who had been transferred to the Society for the Study and Protection of the Mediterranean Monk Seal (MOm), after his rehabilitation, returned today to Cyprus where he will be released into his natural environment.
As the Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Harris Nicolaou, said, "today we welcome Panagis after an absence of five months in Greece, since on November 22, 2024 he was transferred to the MOm Organization's Care Center. The seal has been restored, fully developed and is returning back to be released today in the Cypriot seas where it belongs."
He expressed satisfaction with the fact that "the animal is very healthy and will enrich marine biodiversity again". "It is an emblematic animal that we can all rejoice, wish it good luck and away from danger," he said.
Mr. Nikolaou expressed a "huge thank you to the MOm organization", which undertook the rehabilitation of the animal, which returned today to Larnaca airport to be transferred to the area where it will be released.
Melina Markou from the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research and member of the Mediterranean monk seal monitoring team in Cyprus thanked the MOm organization, as well as the airline Aegean, which transported Panagis at no cost when he was sent to Greece for treatment, but also now on his return to be released into his natural environment.
Such actions, he continued, "can only make the whole world proud, since the protection of the marine environment is not an object of either government or NGO organizations, but of the whole world. That is why we welcome such actions."
Moreover, the President of MOm, Panos Dendrinos, said that the organization "has been cooperating for many years with the team of experts on the Mediterranean monk seal in Cyprus. There is good cooperation, people are doing a great job and from our side, the MOm care team did their best for the seal that was found orphaned."
He added that the little seal "after almost 4.5 months is in a state that can live alone in the natural environment, that is, it is in a state that was weaned by its mother". The animal "is 4.5 months old, weighs 61 kilograms and can therefore be released and feed on its own," he added.
Now, he continued, "a new adventure begins, that is, to try to integrate into his natural environment, he has all the resources to feed himself and adapt to his natural environment. So he needs a lot of attention from the fans and of course we wish him the best of luck".
Referring to the organization, Mr. Dendrinos said that "MOm has been caring for Mediterranean monk seal animals since 1990 and there is an extremely long experience. It is the only program internationally that has treated so many animals and based on this experience we did the best we could for Panagis," he said.
On her part, Donna Sparsi, Station Manager of Aegean in Larnaca, expressed satisfaction because "today we had on our flight a special passenger, Panagis, who is now ready to swim in the waters of the Mediterranean. At Aegean we constantly take care of the environment, we are always by the side of the Ministry of Agriculture of Cyprus as well as the MOm organization in these actions".
On November 18, 2024, a dead adult monk seal Monachus monachus was found in the marine area of free Famagusta and, as the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment had informed, after an autopsy carried out, it was found that its death had resulted from complications during childbirth.
Since then, the monitoring team of the Mediterranean monk seal in Cyprus, which consists of officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research, was been mobilized to find the newborn, which with the help of lifeguards was located on November 21, in a rocky coastal area.
The newborn was transferred to the Cyprus Marine Aquaculture Research Centre (EKTHYK) of the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research in Meneou, where he was provided with the necessary care, while on the instructions of the Minister of Agriculture and in order to ensure its survival, an operation was organized for the safe airlift of "Panagi" in Greece where it was handed over to the Mom organization. It is noted that the small seal was named "Panagis", as its discovery coincided with the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary.
