The DIEC says that the mascarell is a "sea bird of the sulid family, about 90 centimeters long, with white plumage and a black spot around its eyes" that has the peculiarity of diving into the sea like crazy. In the Catalan-Valencià-Balear Dictionary Another meaning of the word is added: "Masked, stained with mask." This is also the title of the Catalan translation of the thriller psychological work written by the Quebec author, playwright and poet Anne Hébert (1916-2000), a work that in 1983 won the Femina Prize and the Governor of Central Canada Award, among others, and which, in French, is titled The fous of Bassan.