Tag: human-seal interaction

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Mediterranean seal Badem chooses to avoid tourist season

Press Watch, Hürriyet Daily News, April 12, 2010

Badem, probably the most famous Mediterranean Monk Seal, is back in Turkey after taking herself on a tour of the Greek island of Rhodes during the winter months. […]

The problem is that Badem is far too happy to be with humans and likes nothing better than to take a break by jumping into a dinghy for forty winks.

This all sounds very delightful, and sure enough, last month she was found in a dinghy near Marmaris, recuperating from her long swim from Rhodes back to Turkey where she likes to spend the summer months.

According to Zafer Kızılkaya, a representative of SAD/AFAG, “she was resting in a dinghy, but it seems some people took advantage of this, and we received reports that some people were kicking her and throwing stones at her. Unfortunately the attitude of many Turkish people is that, when they see an animal like Badem, they want to play with her, but really it’s more like torture. This is quite intolerable.”

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Released again, Badem heads for Greece

Badem on Rhodes

Recently released from her temporary confinement in a specially-constructed pen in Gökova Bay, Turkey, orphaned seal Badem wasted little time swimming off to Greece [see New cage built for Badem]. Her first known port of call was the eastern Aegean island of Rhodes, and the popular port of Lindos.

Greek NGO MOm was alerted to the seal’s presence on 21 January 2010 by the Hydrobiological Station of Rhodes. Observers reported the animal displaying a range of unusual behaviours, including resting on small fishing boats in the harbour, and allowing people to pet it.

Following contact and information exchange with their Turkish counterparts SAD-AFAG (which undertook the rescue and rehabilitation of the orphaned seal in association with the SRRC of Pieterburen, the Netherlands), MOm dispatched its own experienced rescue staff to Rhodes in order to assess the situation, liaise with local bodies, and formulate a range of possible actions to deal with the ‘problem’ seal.

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Badem — new photos

Turkish daily Hürriyet has published a gallery of photos on Badem and her new temporary enclosure, funded by businessman Mustafa Koç.

The orphaned monk seal, whose interactions with swimmers and beachgoers  have become a source of concern to conservationists, is due again for release. SAD-AFAG, the NGO caring for her, has expressed the hope that she will adapt to the wild, and show less interest in humans.

Hürriyet gallery

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New cage built for seal Badem

Press Watch, Hürriyet Daily News, January 3, 2010
The new cage built for 'Badem,' a Mediterranean seal, cost 75,000 Turkish Liras. DHA photo

Badem, a Mediterranean seal that was found beached in Didim and had previously undergone many attempts at rehabilitation after being released into the wild in 2006 will now be kept in a special aquarium. The aquarium is in a bay in the popular resort town of Marmaris.

Businessman Mustafa Koç, Badem’s sponsor, had a special aquarium prepared for the seal that cost 75,000 Turkish Liras. In its new aquarium, Badem will get the chance to hunt live fish.

Zafer Kızılkaya, a member of the executive board of the Underwater Research Foundation, or URA, said the seal was very happy in its new aquarium and it would be released into the wild again soon, because it has grown into an adult and will need to mate. […]

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Monk seal attack investigation ongoing

Press Watch, The Garden Island, December 27, 2009

K12 is mother of seal slain in separate incident

LIHU‘E — “Maha‘ulepu Mama” is no Hawaiian monk seal to mess with.

She takes her role in perpetuating the endangered species very seriously, and woe to the woman or man who comes too close to her newborn.

Scientifically known as K12, she has given birth to at least four pups at Maha‘ulepu Beach on the South Shore. The most recent, PK4 (sex unknown at present), was earlier this month.

Authorities are continuing to investigate an encounter Monday that involved K12 taking a few bites out of Rebecca Wahlman, 28, of Kirkland, Wash.

Wahlman spent Monday night at Wilcox Memorial Hospital, where she received treatment for superficial wounds, according to a county press release. She was released on Tuesday, according to a hospital spokesperson. […]

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Visitor injured in encounter with monk seal off Kauai

Press Watch, Honolulu Advertiser, December 21, 2009

A 28-year-old female visitor from Kirkland, Wash. sustained superficial, non life-threatening injuries Monday in an attack by an adult female monk seal in waters off Kaua’i. […]

The incident took place at around 4:43 p.m. at Mahaulepu Beach on the south shore.

The woman had been snorkeling with a friend at the beach when the current sent her adrift to an area where several monk seals, including an adult female and a pup, were swimming.

The adult female apparently felt threatened by the snorkeler and attacked her. […]

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