The monk seal and the blue lizard

Capri is undoubtedly a fantastic microcosm known in the scientific world for its animal species. The blue lizard and the monk seal have entered the history and legends of the blue island. The Greeks called the Mediterranean monk seal Marine Ox. Both Homer, Aristotle and Pliny the old, tell us stories and legends about this mythical animal pinnipede. We know that colonies of these animals lived in the caves of Posillipo and Capri, near the rock of the Monacone and, in the cave of the Bue Marino, near the Fontelina, where they beach to rest. Its cheerful and playful character, similar to that of dolphins, made it easy prey for poachers, who sought it for their meat. The last specimen was captured and photographed on the beach of Palazzo a mare in 1910. The blue lizard (Lacerta Coerulea Faraglionensis) is one of the symbols of Capri in the world. For centuries it lives on Scopolo, the Faraglione di Mare, hiding among the many native flower species. Its particular dark blue melanism makes it combative and fast in the period of love and skillful in the hunting of insects and larvae. It was discovered in 1870 by the Capri physician-writer Ignazio Cerio, to whom the Museum of Natural Sciences has been dedicated where you can admire specimens of the fauna of Capri, from prehistory to the present day. But it was the German scientist Theodor Eimer, in 1872, with his numerous scientific publications, who made the amphibian caprese famous in the world. So, many museum managers came to the island in search of specimens of the blue lizard. It was the “Schiappaiuoli”, rock-climbing farmers who for centuries gathered shrubs on the steep coasts of the island, to climb barefoot the Faraglione di Mare and capture the island reptile. The last great Schiappaiuolo was Michele Ferraro “ru Tennis”, who captured the blue lizard for famous people. Unfortunately, the serious danger for the extinction of this mythical reptile, are the royal seagulls, which live numerous on the Faraglioni. The lack of blue fish has made it a coveted prey for many hungry birds.

curated by Renato Esposito