Abstract
A field mission was carried out in the late spring of 2002 with the purpose of identifying potential "hotspots" for the presence of the Mediterranean monk seal in the Cyrenaica coastal region. The fieldwork was conducted under a Memorandum of Understanding coordinated by UNEP's Regional Activity Center for Special Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) and involving the collaboration between the Environment General Authority (EGA) of Libya and the Istituto Centrale per la Ricerca Applicata al Mare (ICRAM) of Italy. The objectives of the field mission were to: ● collect information on past and recent monk seal sightings in Cyrenaica through a specific interview campaign directed at the fishermen operating out of the Cyrenaican landing sites and ports with a view to identifying "hotspots" characterised by the presence of monk seal individuals ● collect preliminary information on the coastal characteristics and habitat suitability for the species in Cyrenaica so as to identify sectors needing investigation from sea to be carried out in a later phase of work ● collect information on other marine species of secondary interest (with respect to the purpose of the present study) but which are nevertheless important from the point of view of marine biodiversity (i.e. other protected and rare species, invasive species).