Endangered seal brings a sense of calm to Tel Aviv
Here’s why the locals want her back
For much of the past week, Israel’s latest unlikely celebrity Yulia — a rare six-foot species of seal sunbathed and slept the day away on Jaffa beach. She drew throngs of onlookers, constant media attention and round-the-clock government protection.
Then early on Tuesday afternoon, the unwitting star, who weighs hundreds of kilos, waded into the water and swam away.
Her departure has left some locals bereft, and others hopeful that she may find a safer home than a bare beach with little shelter, other animals and litter. News of her departure spread quickly through the area’s social media and WhatsApp groups. One group even changed its name from “Friends of Jaffa” to “Friends of Yulia.”
Aya Zaken, a resident of the ancient port city, part of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality, said she was “deeply sad” that Yulia had returned to the sea.
“Of course, I know she’s not smiling, but her lips are formed in a way that makes her look like she is. She’s so utterly calm — even while a million people [were] watching her,” she said.
For Zaken, seeing the giant mammal for the first time was a “much more moving” experience than she had expected because of the seal’s enormous size and the effect she had on onlookers.
“When faced with her, I felt an overwhelming sense of calm, like a deep meditation,” Zaken said.
“The feeling that this is so much bigger than me or my troubles.”
Yulia, named by the local boy who discovered her on the Jaffa beach on Friday was under 24-hour surveillance by Israel Nature and Parks Authority volunteers (and the press) who ensured she was undisturbed by the gathering crowds. She is a rare Mediterranean monk seal, classified as an endangered species.
According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there are some 600-700 monk seals left in the world – with other estimates setting the number even lower.
However, when Turkish researchers at the International Union for Conservation of Nature saw images of Yulia, they recognized her as a monk seal they had already identified – named Tugra – known for her penchant for swimming great lengths and napping for extraordinarily long periods.
She is over 20 years old and has a reputation for traveling the eastern Mediterranean, having been spotted as far off as Greece and Turkey.
Mia Elasar is the founder of the Delphis Association, an Israeli nonprofit for marine mammals, has been researching monk seals for 30 years, and is working with IUCN on a project to protect monk seals.
“I’m on such a high, I haven’t slept in days,” said Elasar.
“As a child, I heard that there were once far more seals here; and now, to see one in real life, it’s a legend that has come alive.”
The seal’s extreme swimming turned out not to be the only reason for her fatigue. Listless and shaking when she appeared, Yulia caused Elasar and other experts to worry that she was ill. Large bite marks were spotted on two areas of her body as Yulia, aka Tugra, napped on Jaffa beach.
According to Elasar’s Turkish colleagues, those marks were not present at her last sighting in 2019, off the coast of Lebanon. She was also shedding her fur – a process that requires a lot of energy.
Israel lacks the resources to give Yulia the protection she needs, Elazar explained. To provide a more permanent home for her and her fellow seals, authorities would need to build caves along the shoreline where the marine animals could rest.
“It makes more sense for her to go back,” she said.
Some Jaffa residents agreed that the beach – with its crowds, dogs and considerable volume of garbage – wasn’t the best place for their beloved guest.
Dan, a Jaffa resident said: “I think it is for the best. It was
probably a matter of time until someone would potentially harm her or ‘adopt’ her to live in a bath or aquarium,” he said.
Yulia apparently felt the same way. After 48 hours of sleep, she returned to sea. Over the next two days she was spotted in and out of the water, until, on Tuesday, she left for longer. She was spotted swimming opposite the nearby Jaffa port on Wednesday morning, making some believe she will yet return.
“I very much want her to
come back,” said Arnon Pinchuk, 14, one of 18 students from the Kehila Democratic School in Jaffa who came to see Yulia on Wednesday morning, only to learn that she had left.
Yulia’s arrival was a unifying event among Jaffa’s diverse population of Jews, Christians and Muslims.
“She came at a time when people need quiet and solidarity and unity and happiness,” Zaken said, referring as much to the present civil strife over a proposed overhaul
of Israel’s judiciary as to the recent five-day attacks on civilians by Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza.
Along with locals, Yulia attracted a gaggle of photographers who spent hours focusing their lenses on her. To Ziv Binunski, a cameraman for Israel’s Channel 12 news, she was a welcome respite from his other assignments, such as capturing rocket fire over the Gaza border, and the anti-government protests around the country.
On Wednesday morning, Binunski stood on the beach, hoping to catch her return.
“It’s such a different experience, being connected to the sea and to nature,” he said, “and to be dependent on the whims of animals, and not humans.”
Yehiel Lamesh, an amateur photographer, traveled from the southern port city of Ashdod to visit the seal.
“I would go around the world to see such a creature, so, of course, I would come here,” he said.