Ancienne membre de l'équipe DPB - cette page n'est plus maintenue
(date de dernière mise à jour: 26/02/2015)

Stagiaire, Vacataire

Academic institution: Master Histoire Philosophie et Didactiques des Sciences, Université de Montpellier 2 (UM2)

Supervisors:  Sophie MONSARRAT et Ana RODRIGUES

Internship Project: The impact of human exploitation on the global distribution, abundance and behaviour of the Mediterranean monk seal, Monachus monachus

The impacts of humans on marine ecosystems started millennia ago, but because they happened gradually over very long periods and with little recorded evidence, their full scale has only recently begun to be understood. The MORSE project is reviewing historical and pre-historical records to quantify the full impact of humans on the abundances and distribution of marine mammal species, in order to inform future conservation strategies.

The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) was reportedly abundant across the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and in the adjacent Atlantic Ocean, congregating on open beaches for their reproduction. Exploited for millennia for its skin and oil, it has progressively declined to almost complete disappearance. Today, with less than 500 individuals remaining in just a few breeding colonies in remote caves, it is one of the rarest and most threatened mammal species on the planet, classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Nature Conservation.

The objective of this internship is to map and quantify the human impact on the distribution, population, and habitat selection of the Mediterranean monk seal. It is an interdisciplinary project at the interface between biological conservation and history.