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life history traits of the species to protect. The SPA/BD Protocol of the Barcelona Convention list 15
species2 of marine birds in its Annex II, and an Action Plan for their protection was adopted by the
Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention in November 2003. Of all the listed species,
several species are threatened. The endemic Audouin's gull (Larus audouinii), in the order of 600-
800 remaining pairs, has reached dangerously low population levels and depends on rocky islands
and archipelagos, free from disturbance, as breeding sites. Several species of birds typical for the
Mediterranean climatological region are threatened in their European, and possibly in the whole of
their Mediterranean range, because of the loss of suitable disturbance-free habitat. Of particular
note (UNEP/MAP; RAC/SPA 2003b) are the threatened species Pelecanus onocrotalus (white
pelican), P. crispus (Dalmatian pelican), Falco eleonorae (Eleonora’s falcon), Phoenicopterus ruber
(greater flamingo), Phalacrocorax aristotelis desmarestii (Mediterranean shag), P. pygmeus (pigmy
cormorant), Pandion haliaetus (osprey), Numenius tenuirostris (slender-billed curlew), Sterna
bengalensis (lesser crested tern), S. sandvicensis (Sandwich tern), and S. albifrons (little tern).

Several species of marine mammals have reached dangerously low population levels, and their
survival has become questionable unless immediate measures are taken for their conservation.
The species in which this is most evident is the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal
(Monachus monachus), which depends on rocky islands and archipelagos free from disturbance as
breeding sites. The population of these seals in the Mediterranean is probably less than 300
individuals. Their greatest concentration occurs along the Turkish and Greek coasts and around
the Aegean islands. Very small numbers are also thought to remain in Morocco, Algeria and
probably Libya. The home ranges of these pinnipeds are not known, nor is the frequency of their
occurrence in High Seas areas.

Twenty one cetacean species have been reported in the Mediterranean Sea, about half of which
come Atlantic populations entering the sea only sporadically (Reeves and Notarbartolo di Sciara
2006). The Mediterranean Sea contains critical habitat of only one large mysticete (fin whale,
Balaenoptera physalus) and nine odontocetes (sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus; Cuvier’s
beaked whale, Ziphius cavirostris; killer whale, Orcinus orca3; long-finned pilot whale, Globicephala
melas; Risso’s dolphin, Grampus griseus; common bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus; short-
beaked common dolphin, Delphinus delphis; striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba; and harbour
porpoise, Phocoena phocoena4), all of which all found regularly in the region. Four other species
(minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata; humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae; false killer
whale, Pseudorca crassidens; and rough-toothed dolphin, Steno bredanensis) have been reported
from the Mediterranean several times during the past few decades, and may be more regular in the
region than previously thought (particularly S. bredanensis: D. Kerem, pers. comm.). All marine
mammals occurring in the Mediterranean are listed in Annex II to the SPA/BD Protocol, and all
cetacean species are protected by the UNEP CMS “Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans
of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Contiguous Atlantic Area” (ACCOBAMS). A joint IUCN-
ACCOBAMS effort to assess the conservation status of the populations belonging to ten cetacean
species regularly occurring in the Mediterranean Sea, for their inclusion in the Red List, determined
that 60% are threatened (Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable), and 40% are Data
Deficient (Reeves and Notarbartolo di Sciara 2006). Guidelines for the establishment in the
Mediterranean of MPAs for cetaceans were developed by the RAC/SPA (Notarbartolo di Sciara

2 One of which, Puffinus yelkouan, was later split into P. yelkouan and P. mauretanicus, thus bringing the number of bird
species de facto concerned by Annex II to 16.
3 Limited to the area of the Strait of Gibraltar.
4 Limited to the Northern Aegean Sea.