“Mediterranean Monk Seal Yulia Attracts Crowds and Departs Jaffa Beach, Leaving Israelis Hopeful for Her Safe Return”

JTA — For much of the past week, Israel’s newest celebrity has been lounging on Jaffa Beach, attracting throngs of onlookers, constant media attention and constant government protection as she takes sunbathing and sleeping all day.

Tuesday, at the beginning of the afternoon, the star named Yulia, dove into the water and fled by swimming. She left no signs that she might possibly return.

The departure of Yulia – a rare species of 1.80m seal weighing hundreds of pounds who traveled across the eastern Mediterranean – has left some local residents distraught while others hope she finds a new home safer than a bare beach with few shelters, other animals and litter.

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News of her departure quickly spread through social media and WhatsApp groups in the region, with one even changing her name from “Friends of Jaffa” to “Friends of Yulia (Friends of Yulia).

“Of course, I know she’s not smiling, but her lips are shaped in a way that makes it look like she’s smiling. She is so calm, even though a million people are watching her,” said Aya Zaken, a resident of the ancient city adjacent to Tel Aviv, who added that she was “deeply sad” that Yulia had returned to the sea.

Seeing the mammal for the first time was a “much more emotional” experience than she expected, Aya Zaken said, partly because of the seal’s size, but also because of the effect it it produced on the spectators.

“In front of him, I felt a deep serenity, like an intense meditation,” Zaken said. “The feeling that all of this is so much bigger than me or my problems. »

Yulia, whose name was given by a local boy who discovered her, arrived on Jaffa beach on Friday.

It soon came under round-the-clock surveillance by the press and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), which sent volunteers to ensure that the crowds that gathered upon her arrival do not disturb her.

Yulia, an endangered Mediterranean monk seal, resting on the beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, May 16, 2023. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

Yulia is a Mediterranean monk seal, one of 600 to 700 left in the world, according to theUnited States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, although other estimates indicate an even lower number. The species is classified as an endangered species.

Yulia was listless and shaky when she arrived on Israeli shores, and experts feared she might be ill. But when Turkish researchers from theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) received images of Yulia, they recognized her as a monk seal they had seen before, named Tugra, which is known for its penchant for swimming great distances and taking naps for extraordinarily long periods of time . She is over 20 years old and has a reputation for travelling, having been seen to Greece and Turkey.

Yulia, an endangered #Mediterranean monk #sealcame ashore at a beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, attracting crowds. pic.twitter.com/Nk5PmPw5uE

— CGTN America (@cgtnamerica) May 16, 2023

“On the one hand, I’m so excited that I haven’t slept for several days,” said Mia Elasar, who has studied monk seals for 30 years. “As a child, I heard that there used to be a lot more seals here; and now seeing one in person is a legend brought to life. »

Elasar is the founder of the Delphis Association, an Israeli marine mammal nonprofit that has partnered with the IUCN in a joint project for the protection of monk seals. According to her, Yulia’s (or Tugra’s) travels are not the only reason for her extreme fatigue. Upon arrival in Jaffa, she was seen with large bite marks in two places on her body. According to Elasar’s Turkish colleagues, these markings were not present when it was last sighted in 2019, off the coast of Lebanon. She was also shedding her fur, a process that takes a lot of energy.

“I’m worried about her here,” Elasar said. “It would make more sense for her to go home. »

An overhead view of Yulia, an endangered Mediterranean monk seal, resting on the seafront in Tel Aviv, May 16, 2023. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

Some Jaffa residents have acknowledged that the beach – with its crowds, dogs and sheer volume of litter – isn’t the best place for their beloved guest. Elasar added that Israel does not have the resources to provide Yulia with the protection she needs. To provide a more permanent home for it and its fellow creatures, authorities should build caves along the coastline where marine animals can rest.

“I think it’s better this way,” said Dan, a Jaffa resident who declined to give his last name. It was probably a matter of time before someone harmed her or “adopted” her to live in a tub or aquarium, or even tried to eat her.

In the end, Yulia apparently felt the same way. After sleeping for 48 hours after her arrival, she finally set sail again. Over the next two days, she was in and out of the water, until on Tuesday she decided to leave. On Wednesday morning she was spotted swimming in front of nearby Jaffa port, giving optimists reason to believe she will return.

“I very much wish she would come back,” said 14-year-old Arnon Pinchuk, who came with a few of his classmates to see Yulia on Wednesday morning, before learning she had left.

Arnon Pinchuk was one of 18 students from Kehila Democratic School in Jaffa to make the trip. When asked why the rest of his class didn’t participate in the adventure, Pinchuk replied, “because they’re dummies who prefer to stay on their phones.”

Yulia, an endangered Mediterranean monk seal, resting on the beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, May 16, 2023. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

Jaffa has a diverse population of Jews, Christians and Muslims, and for many locals Yulia’s arrival was a unifying event. This is especially true given that recent events in the country range from civil unrest related to Israel’s judicial reform bill to the recent five-day conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group in Gaza. Yulia arrived in Jaffa towards the end of this series of fights.

“She came at a time when people needed calm, solidarity, unity and happiness,” Zaken said. “I hope she regains her strength and comes back to tell us how great we are. »

Besides the locals, Yulia attracted a group of photographers who spent hours pointing their lenses at her. Yehiel Lamesh, an amateur photographer, came from the southern port city of Ashdod to visit Yulia. “I would travel the world to see such a creature, so it was only natural that I would come here. »

Yulia, an endangered Mediterranean monk seal, resting on the beach in Tel Aviv, Israel, May 16, 2023. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

For Ziv Binunski, cameraman for Channel 12, Yulia’s stay was a welcome respite from her other assignments, which include filming the rocket fire on the Gaza border, as well as the anti-government protests rocking the city. the country.

Wednesday morning he stood on the beach, hoping to catch a glimpse of her return.

“It’s such a different experience to be connected to the sea and nature,” he said, “and to depend on the whims of animals, not humans.”