Monk Seals

(Monachinae), white-bellied seals, a subfamily of mammals of the family of true seals. The three genera are the Mediterranean (Monachus monachus), Caribbean (M. tropicalis), and Hawaiian (M. schauinslandi) monk seals. The Mediterranean monk seal is distributed from the Canary Islands and the Madeira Islands east through the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea. It has been annihilated to a considerable degree (in some places completely). They are found on rare occasions in the Black Sea only near the shores of Bulgaria; isolated individuals were formerly found on the shores of the USSR. Body length is usually about 3 m, but sometimes as great as 3.8 m. They are easily domesticated; they have no industrial significance.