The
Mediterranean monk seal (
Monachus monachus) is a
pinniped belonging to the family
Phocidae. As of 2015, it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean (especially in the
Aegean Sea), the archipelago of
Madeira and the
Cabo Blanco area in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. It is believed to be the world's rarest pinniped species.