At Cala Brandinchi, the pearl of San Teodoro, yesterday morning, shortly before 8, something unusual caught the eye of Simone Malavasi, a marine operator with many years of experience: «I am 100% sure I saw a seal».

Originally from Mirandola, in the province of Modena, Malavasi has chosen to live and work in this corner of Sardinia, immersed in nature and in close contact with the sea, the breathtaking sunrises and sunsets. Accustomed to sharing his excursions with dolphins and other marine wonders, this time his gaze crossed something unusual for him : a mammal that, swimming about 150 meters from the shore, repeatedly surfaced and then submerged again.

"It seemed to be playing with me," Malavasi says. "It would come up and down with its head, then disappear and reappear further away. It gave me the impression that it wanted to say: 'I saw you too'." A moment of pure magic for the man, made even more special by the rarity of such a sighting in these waters.

To capture that moment, he recorded a video, although the animal's rapid movement and the distance did not allow him to capture it clearly. "Unfortunately, I was unable to capture it well with the zoom, but I am certain of what I saw."

Sighting a seal in Sardinia is rare, but not impossible : these are specimens of the Mediterranean monk seal, an endangered species that once populated the coasts of the island in large numbers. In recent years, some specimens have been sighted in Sardinian waters, a sign that these splendid animals could slowly return to reclaim their natural habitat.

(Union/Fr.Me.)

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