Seals
Original title: Focas
Seals, locally called lobos marinhos, once abundant in Madeiran seas and especially the Desertas, were almost extinct there by the time of writing.
Seals are generally called lobos marinhos (‘sea wolves’), and the article on the parish (freguesia) of Câmara de Lobos (p. 210, vol. 1) explains the reason for the name given to that parish. These amphibious mammals, which once abounded in the seas of our archipelago, have almost entirely disappeared from these waters, and only a few of them have been caught at long intervals. As recently as a few decades ago it was not rare to see them on the neighbouring Desertas (‘deserted islands’), where fishermen hunted them. On this subject it is worth reading p. 79 onwards of A. Artur Sarmento’s book Mamíferos do Arquipelago da Madeira.
In this article
Place
Places mentioned · 02
- Câmara de Lobos
Parish whose name derives from the seals.
Parish west of Funchal. The Elucidário traces its name to Zarco's discovery voyage and describes its churches, chapels and collegiate chapter, early settlers, fishing community and renowned vineyards. It also records the parish's localities, boundaries, levadas and population.
- Desertas
Santa Cruz. Islands where seals were still hunted by fishermen a few decades earlier.
An island group near Madeira that was already separated from it at the last eruptions and shares endemic species with it. It was the main orchil-harvesting area, and Wollaston found 89 beetle species there. The islands were investigated by scientific expeditions, including the Endurance scientists in 1914.
People
People mentioned · 01- Alberto Artur Sarmentob. 1878
Author of Mamíferos do Arquipélago da Madeira, cited for further reading on seals.