![Oryx jpg](https://www.marinemammalhabitat.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Oryx-jpg.jpg)
Recent research published on the journal Oryx (2019, doi:10.1017/S0030605319000759) indicates that the Endangered Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus is becoming established again in Cyprus, with an increasing number of sightings and even the births of several pups.
![Fig 2 jpg](https://www.marinemammalhabitat.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Fig-2-jpg.jpg)
Monk seal sightings (left) and the presence of suitable caves for resting and pupping (right) are shown in the map above, taken from the Oryx paper.
![eatlas jpg](https://www.marinemammalhabitat.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/eatlas-jpg.jpg)
Monk seal sightings and births were recorded largely within the “Akamas and Chrysochou Bay IMMA” and the “Akrotiri IMMA”, as shown in the above screenshot of the IMMA e-Atlas. This indicates that the two IMMAs were identified correctly even before the evidence of their current importance had become available.
The number of sightings in the Kavo Greko – Kavo Pyla area, in the south-east of Cyprus, likely warrants the proposal of a new Area of Interest (AoI), to be considered a candidate IMMA (cIMMA) as new opportunities arise.