Classical sources including Homer and Aristotle describe seals hauled out on open Mediterranean beaches, and the species appears on coins from the ancient city of Phocaea. Today the great majority of Mediterranean monk seal births occur inside coastal caves, frequently ones entered from below the waterline.
Cave pupping carries real costs. Sea caves flood in storms, and pup mortality from surge washing newborns off cave beaches is a recognised problem. That such a marginal habitat is used at all is the strongest argument that the shift reflects avoidance of people rather than a preference.
The species' outlook has genuinely improved. Its IUCN listing was downgraded from Critically Endangered to Endangered in 2015 and to Vulnerable in 2023 as numbers rose past a thousand animals. Whether monk seals will return to open beaches where protection is strong is an open question; some tentative signs of beach use have been reported, but the pattern is not yet established.