A Mediterranean monk seal, a rare member among only 700 others from its species left in the world, has re-paid a visit to the Gulf of Kuşadası after previously visiting ten months ago.

Fishermen and locals spotted the seal and informed the authorities and environment activists.

The seal, which is believed to be the same one that arrived in the Gulf of Kuşadası on Jan. 6, was monitored by locals until it had returned to the open sea.

As the only type of seal whose natural habitat is warm seas, the Mediterranean monk seal is an endangered species.

Some one hundred Mediterranean monk seals are believed to have remained along Turkey's coastline, with most of them living in caves near the western resort town of Foça (Phocaea in antiquity), whose name was derived from Greek and Latin term for seals (Phocoidea – Phocidae).