Vol. 8 (2): December 2005

Croatia

Back from the dead?

Amid great media excitement, an animal identified as a Mediterranean monk seal was sighted and filmed by a Croatian television reporter at 10:30 AM on 18 June 2005, writes Jasna Antolovic of the Zagreb-based Mediterranean Monk Seal Group (Grupa Sredozemna Medvjedica).

Stills obtained from the footage at Mala Srakana.

Following a long history of persecution by fishermen and hunters, and unsuccessful surveys in recent years to identify occupied habitat, the species had been considered extinct in the Croatian Adriatic.

	The seal sighted at Cape Verudela near Pula.

The reporter for Croatian National Television, Mr Boris Vehar, made his first sighting of the seal on the island of Mala Srakana near Losinj, swimming about 3 meters from the shore. Apparently startled by the noise of the 5-6 people on the beach who had also spotted it, the seal swam away. Taking his video camera, Vehar proceeded to film the animal as it left the scene, and managed to obtain about 2 minutes of footage at 50-100 meters.

Yet another monk seal was observed and photographed at approximately 13.00 hrs on 22 November 2005 at Cape Verudela near Pula (Istria). The seal was photographed by Mr Bonet, an Italian from Trentino, who was walking around Verudela as a tourist. It was the 30th time that a monk seal had been seen this year in the Adriatic. – Jasna Antolovic, GSM.

Editor’s note: For further information on recent observation records in Croatia, see our companion article Recent Sightings of the Monk Seal in Croatian areas of the Adriatic by Martina Duras Gomercic, Tomislav Gomercic, Duro Huber and Hrvoje Gomercic.

The Gambia

For news of a recent reported sighting of the Mediterranean monk seal in The Gambia, please turn to Mediterranean Monk Seal off Ginak Island, The Gambia: a new sighting at the southern fringe of the known range, by Roy Armstrong and Owen T. Nevin.

Greece

Understanding fisheries: a new conservation initiative for the monk seal in Greece

	Critical contact: changing attitudes between fishermen and seals.

MOm, leading an international consortium of conservation and research bodies (WWF Greece, Greek National Institute of Fisheries Research, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, University of Aberdeen), has just started a new 4 year initiative to address the conflict between monk seals and coastal fisheries, a key issue in the conservation of Monachus monachus in Greece. The project, co-financed through the LIFE-Nature Programme of the European Commission and other national (Prefecture of Magnesia) and international bodies (International Fund for Animal Welfare), is supported by both the Hellenic Ministries of Environment and of Rural Development and Food.

The MOFI project’s (officially entitled “Monk Seal & Fisheries: Mitigating the Conflict in Greek Seas”) main objective is to improve the conservation status of the European Union’s largest population of the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal by mitigating the negative consequences of this interaction, thus leading to a decrease in the overall mortality rate of the species and to a decrease in the loss of the fishermen’s income through the provision of socio-economic incentives. Activities will be implemented simultaneously:

• At the two most important monk seal breeding sites in Greece (the National Marine Park of Alonissos and the island complex of Kimolos-Polyaigos), in order to measure the actual intensity of the seal-fishery interaction relative to fishing effort, and to assess for the first time the effects of acoustic deterrence devices on this interaction, in close collaboration with local fishermen.
• At 7 “hot spots” (areas with intense seal-fishery interactions), awareness actions will cultivate a “working relationship” with the local fishing communities of these areas. Through open interviews with professional fishermen, aquaculture owners, fishery and port police authorities, data will be collected to obtain a measure of the extent and effects of the seal-fishery interactions and on possible solutions to resolve the existing conflict.
• At the national level, record data on the overall distribution of the seal-fishery interaction and to monitor the mortality causes and the status of the species. In addition, animals needing emergency care will be rescued and treated, leading to a reduction in the species mortality. Furthermore, analysis of stomach content samples will help determine the species’ feeding preferences for the first time.

Based on the results of these activities and in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, an Action Plan to mitigate the seal-fishery conflict and a strategy for the conservation of the species will be elaborated and widely publicized.

It is expected that the MOFI project will result in:

• Reducing the fisheries related mortality of monk seals (deliberate killings of animals and entanglements in fishing gear) throughout the country.
• Evaluating for the first time the effectiveness of acoustic deterrent devices on reducing the monk seal-fishery interaction and identifying the feeding preferences of the monk seal, providing quantified evidence on the consumption of marketable fish species.
• Implementing a scientifically sound methodology to measure the magnitude and effects of seal-fisheries interaction on a national level.
• Involving all key stakeholders in the project’s activities, thus decreasing their disinterest and negative attitude towards the conservation of the monk seal.
• Preparing a feasible – and ready for immediate implementation – Monk Seal-Fisheries Action Plan with maximum possible consensus among key stakeholders (fishermen, aquaculture owners, local and national authorities and environmental organizations).

– Dr. Spyros Kotomatas, MOm.

Learning more about Monachus monachus

	Public awareness in the Cyclades.

A new prototype educational package in the form of a “suitcase” was produced as part of a project carried out by MOm in the Cyclades area in collaboration with the regional government of the Southern Aegean. The educational package contains leaflets, booklets, comics, posters, slides, videotapes, and games. The educational “suitcase” will travel all over the Cyclades with the collaboration of local educators, who will be responsible for using it.

With the support of its new corporate partner, the mobile telephone operator TIM Hellas, MOm has designed a new educational CD-ROM, aiming to inform and educate students in the Cyclades Islands. The CD includes information about the Mediterranean monk seal, interactive games, a photo gallery, information about the natural environment of the Cyclades area and videos related to the endangered species and its habitats. The production and distribution of the CD is part of the overall programme “Awareness and Information in the Cyclades”, supported by TIM. – Stella Adamantopoulou and Danae Protopapa, MOm.

Pup boom…continues

	Monk seal pup at Polyaigos.

Following a record-breaking year in 2004, when 35 newborn pups were recorded throughout the country, MOm’s research team has been awaiting with great anticipation this year’s pupping season. Considering the importance of accurate population censuses for the effective management of the species, and despite the limited financial support available for research and monitoring activities, MOm has managed to carry on monitoring efforts in the area of the Northern Sporades and the Kimolos–Polyaigos island complex. The birth of 12 pups so far in the wider Kimolos area confirms once again its importance for the species and justifies MOm’s continuing efforts to have the site declared a National Marine Park. In other areas of the Cyclades, 6 additional pups have been recorded. In the Northern Sporades meanwhile, as part of MOm’s ongoing conservation activities in the area, 9 new pups have been recorded so far. – Alexandros Karamanlidis, MOm.

	The Greek state’s ongoing tourism campaign “Live your myth in Greece” – a fitting description, perhaps, of the country’s so-called “protected areas” that still have no functioning management authorities or operational funding.

No news is… bad news …for management bodies in the protected areas of Greece

21 months and still counting… and the “new” Minister and Deputy Minister of Environment have not taken a single substantial step towards the effective operation of the management bodies of protected areas in Greece. The case of the Northern Sporades Marine Park is typical of what remains the situation in most areas…

Since August 2004, the board members of the management body remain inactive, awaiting their replacement. Funding, allocated to cover expenses for the management of the Park for the 2004-2006 period, still remains somewhere in the vaults of the Ministry because of bureaucratic obstacles and political unwillingness to support nature conservation. And last but not least, recently, the President of the Board, Prof. N. Dalezios, announced his unofficial resignation, but practically effective since early in the year… Could things get any worse?

Greek NGOs, including MOm, are intensifying their campaign at the EU level to persuade EU officials and especially the Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. S. Dimas, to take legal action against the Greek State. – Panos Dendrinos, MOm.

Cancellation of military exercise on protected islets in the Aegean Sea

On the 27th and 28th of September, a military exercise with live ammunition was scheduled to be carried out by the Greek Army on the islets of Anhydro and Petrokaravo in the Eastern Aegean. These islets are part of the North Dodecanese Permanent Wildlife Refuge, which was established by Greek law in 2004, as a result of the research and conservation work of the environmental NGO, Archipelagos Aigaiou.

	Coastal monitoring at Anhydro.

Anhydro and Petrokaravo are uninhabited islets with very limited human presence. With sheltered caves and rich fish stocks in the surrounding waters, they constitute an ideal habitat for a small resident population of Mediterranean monk seals that live and breed there. In order to ensure the conservation of this seal population, as well as of the other populations in the broader North Dodecanese region, Archipelagos Aigaiou has, during the past 5 years, collaborated closely with the local fishermen, in an effort to actively involve them in the conservation of the monk seal and also to seek solutions to the problem of damage caused by seals to fishing gear.

The terrestrial habitats of Anhydro and Petrokaravo are also of great environmental importance as they constitute breeding sites for Eleonora’s falcon, Cory’s and Yelkouan shearwater, shag and other protected bird species.

Archipelagos Aigaiou carried out coordinated actions in order to alert the ministries responsible, the military authorities, as well as the heads of the scheduled exercise. Initially there were objections to the cancellation, but the actions of Archipelagos resulted in the military exercise ultimately being cancelled. Despite the adverse weather conditions and the potential dangers involved, some of Archipelagos’ members were on Anhydro and Petrokaravo from dawn of 27th September, while others were closely monitoring the area from boats. In support, a number of local fishermen were also present in the area.

	Eleonora’s falcon chick.

The cancellation effort was also supported by many members of the international scientific community. Our colleague, Dr. Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, coordinated a dynamic reaction worldwide from many scientists, environmental organizations and institutes, who greatly contributed to the effort by contacting, and exercising pressure on, the ministries responsible.

Following the above events, the issue of this military exercise was brought to the Greek Parliament, and we are soon expecting an official written confirmation that Anhydro and Petrokaravo will never be used as firing ranges in the future. With the cancellation of this exercise, apart from the fact that the destruction of the island ecosystems and the rare species they support was prevented, a precedent has now been set for the first time in Greece for restriction of the use of live ammunition in environmentally important areas. Using this precedent, Archipelagos Aigaiou, with continued biodiversity surveys in the Aegean Sea and the support of the international scientific community, aims to achieve the cancellation of exercises using live ammunition near habitats supporting protected species in the coastal zone and the open sea. Unfortunately, in Greece today a large number of such exercises still take place, resulting in significant environmental damage. – Anastasia Miliou, Scientific Director, Archipelagos Aigaiou.

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