The monk seal: the only pinniped in the Mediterranean

Speaker: Emanuele Coppola

Graduated in Civil Engineering, he dedicated his life to wildlife documentation, founding in 1982 the nature photography agency PANDA PHOTO, active for over thirty years. As a science communicator, he has produced dozens of documentaries on Mediterranean fauna, with a particular focus on the monk seal, to which he has devoted much of his resources. 

Since the late 1980s, he has contributed ideas and innovative technological solutions to the study of the species, founding the Gruppo Foca Monaca (GFM – Monk Seal Group Association). Thanks to numerous initiatives undertaken in Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Croatia, he has trained talented researchers, including Giulia Mo (now at ISPRA), Luigi Bundone (now with the Greek association Archipelagos), and Sofia Bonicalza (currently scientific coordinator of GFM). 

He has dedicated four documentaries to the monk seal, including the most recent, “Sonno Segreto” (Secret Sleep), still available on RAIPLAY. He is also the author of the book “Il Mistero del Mediterraneo” (The Mystery of the Mediterranean), published in 2015 and available through the GFM Association, and has contributed to several other books, including “Salvati dall’Arca” (Saved from the Ark), 2006, and “Gli Animali di Fulco” (Fulco’s Animals), 2012. In addition, he has participated in numerous interviews and podcasts, such as “La Lista Rossa” (The Red List) by Francesca Bellino, available on RAIPLAY. 

For about six years, he has collaborated with researcher Elena Valsecchi from the University of Milano-Bicocca on the development of an innovative method for monitoring monk seals using environmental DNA. This collaboration has led to the publication of numerous scientific papers, in which he has participated as co-author, thus helping to spread knowledge about the species and support the development of more effective conservation strategies.