natural reserve
First flights for seal counts in the Wadden Sea start
From the air, experts count and photograph adults and young animals resting at low tide. Photo
© Sina Schuldt/dpa
At low tide they lie on sandbanks and doze: thousands of seals live in the Wadden Sea. Experts will be studying their population development in the coming weeks – to do this, the observers will have to take to the air.
To protect the population of seals in To survey the Wadden Sea from the air, pilots, hunters and scientists plan to take off in small aircraft for the first counting flights this year. At low tide, two propeller planes with experienced observers on board will take off simultaneously from the Lower Saxony coast in Norddeich in East Frisia and in Mariensiel near Wilhelmshaven.
This was announced by the responsible State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety in Oldenburg. Scientists can use the number of animals to see how the population is developing and what conclusions they need to draw.
“Seals are an important bioindicator for the unique Wadden Sea habitat,” the state office said. Low tide is ideal for counting because the animals then gather on sandbanks, for example to sunbathe.
The counts are part of an international protection agreement between Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. Counts are also being carried out in the other countries at the same time.
Inventory stabilized at a high level
In Lower Saxony, hunters and scientists from the state office are working together on a voluntary basis. Unlike in previous years, when three aircraft were used, this year the sections of the Lower Saxony coast have only been divided into two counting sections of roughly equal size. Counting flights are scheduled to take place on four more days until mid-August.
According to the state office, the seal population has stabilized at a high level on the Lower Saxony coast in recent years. In 2023, 8,912 animals were counted between the Ems and Elbe. According to the trilateral Wadden Sea Secretariat, there were 22,621 animals in the entire Wadden Sea last summer. Overall, this means that slightly fewer animals were counted for the third year in a row.