STATUS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEAL POPULATION IN THE NATIONAL MARINE PARK OF ALONNISOS NORTHERN SPORADES (N.M.P.A.N.S.) – NOVEMBER 2007.

The wider area of the N.M.P.A.N.S. is one of the most important habitats of the monk seal Monachus monachus in the world. Since the middle of July, monitoring activities throughout the Marine Park Area have been carried out by the scientific team of the N.M.P.A.N.S. Management Body, mainly to assess the status of the monk seal habitats and population.

The scientists of the Park have conducted several surveys of the Park’s monk seal shelters and the results of their observations regarding the breeding season of 2007 are very encouraging.

The first two pups were observed during the first week of October and a week later three more newborn pups were recorded in the shelters of the Marine Park. At present the pups are in excellent health, and are being nursed and looked after by their mothers. Up until the beginning of November 2007, five newborn pups, one juvenile, and four adult monk seals were observed in the wider area of the N.M.P.A.N.S.

The rangers and the scientific team of the N.M.P.A.N.S. are patrolling the area of the Marine Park, checking on human activities and monitoring the condition of the pups, offering the safest possible environment for the survival of the newborn seals during the first critical weeks of their life.

At a time when the degradation of the environment and the loss of biodiversity is increasing rapidly, the presence of newborn monk seal pups potrays a hopeful message for the future of our planet, and once more reveals the significance of the N.M.P.A.N.S. environment, not only for Greece, but worldwide.