CaixaForum Palma to host the premiere of the documentary 'L'Odissea del vell marí'

Next Thursday, June 18th, the documentary 'L'Odissea del vell marí' (L'Odissea del vell marí) will premiere at CaixaForum Palma. The film focuses on the recovery of the Mediterranean monk seal.

The documentary is directed by Marta Hierro and Núria Abad and produced by MOM Works, with the participation of CaixaForum+ and IB3 Televisió, according to a statement released by the cultural center.

Combining live-action footage and animation, the film tells the story of one of the most extraordinary conservation efforts of recent decades. It has been developed with the support of the Balearic Islands Institute of Cultural Industries and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

The premiere will be attended by the directors, who will take part in a discussion following the screening alongside some of the experts featured in the film. The documentary will also be released on the same day on CaixaForum+, the free streaming platform of the “la Caixa” Foundation, and will be broadcast on IB3 Televisió on Monday, June 29, at 11:15 p.m.

The documentary reconstructs the story of the monk seal, a species that inhabited coastlines throughout the Mediterranean for centuries. From the 15th century onward, however, human persecution for its skin and, especially, its fat led to its gradual disappearance. Driven from beaches and forced to seek refuge in remote caves, monk seals were pushed to the brink of extinction.

When the species was considered virtually extinct, a small colony was discovered at Cape Blanc in Mauritania. That finding marked the beginning of an extraordinary scientific and human mission to save the last remaining Mediterranean monk seals.

Structured as a scientific road movie, the documentary follows the trail of the Mediterranean monk seal from the desert coasts of Mauritania to its last strongholds in Greece and Turkey. The narrative accompanies biologists, researchers, and conservationists who have worked for decades under extreme conditions to understand and protect a species that has become a global symbol of marine conservation.

The film revisits key episodes in the scientific history of the Mediterranean monk seal, from the expeditions of French naturalist Théodore Monod and Spanish biologist Eugenio Morales Agacino, to Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s visit in 1948 and the research led by French biologist Didier Marchessaux, who tragically died in a landmine explosion while studying the colony.

The contemporary chapter of this conservation adventure begins in 1993, when a group of Spanish biologists led by Luis Mariano González resumed the conservation project at Cape Blanc. With very limited resources but unwavering determination, the researchers developed a pioneering conservation model based on international cooperation, the creation of protected marine reserves, and collaboration with local fishing communities.

Thanks to decades of sustained effort, the Cape Blanc population has begun a slow but steady recovery and today represents the main symbol of hope for the future of the species.

In the eastern Mediterranean, particularly along the coasts of Greece and Turkey, some of the last stable refuges of the Mediterranean monk seal still survive. In these areas, scientific teams and conservation organizations have spent decades protecting sea caves, rehabilitating orphaned pups, and monitoring wild populations.

'L'Odissea del vell marí' visits these crucial locations to highlight the efforts that have helped halt the species’ decline and prevent its final disappearance.