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Albania is trying to save the rarest seal in the world

2023-04-12 19:40:40Fokus SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

 

Albania is trying to save the rarest seal in the world
Albania is trying to save the rarest seal in the world

 

 

AFP/ A team of Albanian marine biologists are 'scanning' the waters of the Ionian Sea to find a sign of one of the rarest marine mammals in the world.

Mediterranean "monk" seals used to be numerous but now there are only a few left in small groups scattered outside Albania, Greece, Turkey and Mauritania, on the Atlantic coast of Africa.

However, there are glimmers of hope for their survival, despite a dramatic decline caused by overfishing and overdevelopment of their coastal habitat.

Albania is trying to save the rarest seal in the world
Albanian marine biologists watch the coastline for rare seals

According to experts, the numbers have started to increase slowly thanks to the creation of marine protected areas in recent years.

The seals have gone from "critically endangered" in 2015 on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list to now simply "endangered".

However, they are still extremely difficult to trace. While they used to stay more on the beaches, now they are drawn to isolated caves near the seas because they feel safer.

 "In Albania, experts have spotted a small part of the species thanks to the work to identify the caves and coves where these 'shameful' species hide, especially when they have time to give birth", says biodiversity expert Nexhip Hysolakoj.

Albania is trying to save the rarest seal in the world
Biodiversity expert Nexhip Hysolokaj in one of the sea caves where rare seals live.

Experts have spent the past five years placing cameras in caves and other isolated spots along the Adriatic and Ionian coasts to better track the seals.

Hysolakoj, who works in the Karaburun-Sazan marine reserve, leaves every day from the port of Vlora on a ship called "Foka" to check hidden cameras along the coastline.

"It's a real challenge because to capture the right images, we have to position the cameras well", he says.

The last monk seals discovered by the team were spotted in January when they captured images of what appeared to be a female and her pup. They photographed two more in 2020, and there have also been a host of other sightings from tourists, each seen as a small victory.

Albania is trying to save the rarest seal in the world

One of the places in Karaburun where endangered Mediterranean monk seals sometimes hide.

Researchers tracking the mammal mostly stick to the marine national park established in 2010 along the coast of Karaburun and Sazan Island, a place where commercial fishing is prohibited and where large boats are banned.

Locals say that monk seals were once abundant on Albanian beaches, although they were rarely tracked or monitored by experts, especially during communism.

Albania is trying to save the rarest seal in the world
One of the places in Karaburun where endangered Mediterranean monk seals sometimes hide

But populations have been decimated by overhunting and fishing, often using dynamite, while pollution, tourism and climate change have further worsened the numbers.

"The illegal hunting of seals and the destruction of habitats or other factors have forced the seal to completely change its biological behavior", says Aleksander Trajçe, from the organization of Protection and Conservation of the Natural Environment in Albania.

So cameras and regular field trips are some of the only ways to observe the species.

"Only regular monitoring allows us to identify the presence of the monk seal and determine the places that need to be protected", French researchers Jordi Salmona and Philippe Gaubert tell AFP.

Experts also raise the alarm about the thinning of the flora and fauna of marine waters, which puts them at increased risk due to the lack of fish.

"The seal feeds mainly on fish, squid and shellfish. Less fish means less opportunities for them", says Baci Dyrmishaj, a fisherman in Vlora.

Albania is trying to save the rarest seal in the world
Fisherman Baci Dyrmishaj

For a place where superstitions are believed, fishermen have invented a new one to protect monk seals.

"Seals bring luck to those who see them, but if you disturb them or are hunted, bad luck will follow you", says Dyrmishaj.

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