Stuff We Love
Amchit’s Famous Seal Had Pups! And You’re Still Single
Prep the meghli because a national icon just became a mother!
A few years ago, Lebanon fell in love with an unlikely celebrity. Arze, a Mediterranean monk seal often spotted around Amchit, became a local icon and a rare reminder that our coastline still holds pieces of wild beauty. Today, she is in the spotlight again, not for her appearances along Beirut’s shores, but for something far more important: she has given birth to a pup in Cyprus according to the environmental NGO Terre Liban!
The news is a reminder of two things. First, that this critically endangered species is still fighting for survival. Second, that Lebanon is losing the fight to give them a home. Despite frequent sightings of monk seals along our waters in recent years, no birth has ever been recorded here.
Why Arze Couldn’t Stay Home
Back in 2022, we reported on construction projects in Amchit that threatened the very caves where seals like Arze once sought refuge. Those caves were not just hiding places. They were nurseries. Without them, Lebanon’s shoreline is no longer safe for a species that needs silence, protection, and space to raise its young.
So while Cyprus celebrates the arrival of a new monk seal pup, Lebanon is left with a harsher reality. Our waters are disturbed, our habitats are shrinking, and our coastline is disappearing under layers of concrete and private beach clubs. Arze may still visit us, but she clearly no longer trusts us enough to raise her family here.
The survival of the Mediterranean monk seal does not depend on Cyprus alone. It depends on the entire region taking responsibility. If Lebanon wants to be part of that story, it will require more than admiration for Arze from afar. It will mean protecting what little remains of the wild spaces along our coast, before even those are gone.
