Vol. 7 (2): November 2004 Download this article IS THE BROKEN LINK BETWEEN TWO ISOLATED COLONIES IN THE NORTHEASTERN MEDITERRANEAN RE-ESTABLISHING? Ali Cemal Gucu Middle East Technical University Institute of Marine Sciences (METU-IMS) Last year, a research project was initiated jointly by Middle East Technical University Institute of Marine Sciences and the BTC Co Pipeline Company Environmental Investment Program to study the Mediterranean monk seal in the Gulf of Iskenderun [see Perspectives , TMG 6 (2): December 2003]. Lately, a seal sighted within the study area moved beyond the anticipated migration limits [see Arab the Pilgrim , TMG 7 (1): June 2004], thus demonstrating that to study the seals solely within such a confined area would provide only a tiny fragment of a large picture. The area covered by the study has therefore been increased to incorporate the seal colony on the west coast of Mersin, which is less than 200 km away. This year in autumn, prior to conducting a field trip to the Gulf of Iskenderun, an additional survey was carried out on the Cilician coast. The main target of the surveys was to find evidence of the journey of Arab “the pilgrim”, a male seal frequently sighted in the Gulf, so as to understand the links between the colony on west coast of Mersin (Cilician coast) and the seals sighted in the Gulf of Iskenderun. Survey areas circled in red. Left: the Cilician coast. Right: the Gulf of Iskenderun. Red dots mark the location of formerly abondoned and recently re- populated caves. The research team had 5 tasks in the survey: i) checking all seal habitats (mainly caves) known in the area; ii) sailing along the transects in search of seals; iii) exploring new habitats; iv) collecting images via in-cave camera traps and v) collecting recent seal sighting information from the locals on either side of the study area. A total of 39 caves, including 4 in which at least a pup was found by the research team earlier, were checked in the survey. Although fresh haul-out trails conspicuously signified active use in all breeding caves, whelping occurred only in a single cave, which had not been used for breeding until last year (see The Cilician Monk Seal Colony is Growing , TMG 6 (2): December 2003). Since the breeding season in the Cilician colony may extend to mid-November (Gucu et al. 2004), the timing of the survey might have been premature, and there may still be hope of finding more recruits to the colony during the coming survey in late November 2004. As yet, the infrared camera traps in the Gulf failed to catch Arab. Moreover, he did not show up during the survey on the west coast of Mersin. Instead, a young female, displaying rather few mating scars on her back, was sighted during the observation in an area designated ‘abandoned seal habitat’ located between Cilicia and the Gulf of Iskenderun. The brief survey on this coast indicated that a cave which had not been used in the last 10 years, and hence recorded as