New water cave discovered on the shore of Al-Samra town in Lattakia 

The Syrian Exploration and Documentation Society has discovered a new water cave on the shore of Al-Samra town in Lattakia. The cave is the first shelter for the rare Syrian seal, known as “Monk Seal”.

Leader of the field operations at the Society Khaled Nweilati told SANA that a water cave located under a mountain block deep in the sea in Lattakia was discovered and documented. Observations revealed that the cave was the shelter of the rare “Mediterranean Monk Seal” which started to appear on the Syrian shores after 50 years of absence.

Last year, the Society discovered “Tsougi Peran” cave, so it put the coastal line under observation which later led to the discovery of a new cave 2 km away from the previous one between the towns of Al-Badrousiya and Al-Samra in Lattakia countryside.

On his part, Member of the Society’s Documentation Committee Yaser Al-Maleki pointed out that the newly discovered cave is 50 meters deep inside a mountain. Its height is 25 meters, 15 of which are under water, he added, pointing out that several kinds of fish were documented, but the most important vital discovery is the traces that indicate the presence of the “Monk Seal” which was believed to be extinct.

Hamda Mustafa