The Ministry of Agriculture announced this morning that a female seal named Aphrodite was born in Akamas a few weeks ago.

The birth of Aphrodite raises the number of seals in Cyprus waters to be 14.

Aphrodite belongs to the genus of the Mediterranean Monk Seal.  This type of seal is the most endangered type of seal in the world and the only type in the Mediterranean.

Seals were first officially recorded in Cyprus in 1959.  From 1970 to 2010 sightings of the seals were rare however since 2011 there has been a recovery in population numbers.