Their top skin colour ranges from black or dark brown to light grey with mainly light grey below.  Typically they are 2.5m long (8ft), weigh around 300kg (660lbs), and live naturally between 20-30 years.  There are probably fewer than 500 remaining in the wild today and the IUCN list the monk seal as being "Critically Endangered".  It is probably the most threatened of the seal species since the extinction of the Caribbean seal.

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 Animalia
 Chordata
 Mammalia
 Eutheria
 Carnivora
 Pinnipedia
 Phocidae
 Monachinae
 Monachus
 Monachus monachus

1. They are sometimes killed by fishermen who see them as competition for fish, octopus and lobsters
2. They are accidentally killed by becoming entangled in fishing nets or hit by boats
3. Human waste along with industrial and agricultural pollutants fouls the water and kills the monk seal's food
4. Their reproduction rate is low which has inhibited their recovery from over-hunting
5. When disturbed, a female seal may cease milk production or even abandon her pup