Back to Freedom

At the beginning of February, our Greek partners at MOm released a young Mediterranean monk seal back into the Aegean Sea. Prior to that, they had intensively nursed the marine mammal over a period of four months after he had been found, starving and separated from his mother, by local fishermen.

Moment of freedom

© P.Dendrinos/MOm

Kostas in the breakers

© P.Dendrinos/MOm

At first, Costas, as the young monk seal was called, looked a little doubtful as the cage door was opened, but just a few moments later he was enjoying the breaking waves of the Mediterranean once more. Four months earlier, the young pup had been found exhausted and undernourished on Folegandros, one of the Cyclades group of islands in the Aegean Sea. He had probably been washed out of his cave and unable to find his mother again.

Costas was immediately taken to the MOm rehabilitation centre, where the seal conservationists there provided him with medical care and fed him a diet of fish. As a result, he was soon weighing in at an impressive 30 kilos. Once Costas had finished moulting and had also passed his final medical checks, it was just a case of waiting for a spell of fine weather before - after 18 weeks of care in the National Marine Park of Alonissos and Northern Sporades - our partners at MOm were able to release him back to freedom.

Costas is one of 32 young Mediterranean monk seals, who, in the last 30 years, have been cared for by MOm and then returned to the wild. With a population in the Mediterranean that still numbers just 350 individuals, every rescued seal represents a great success for the establishment of these rare marine mammals in the Aegean Sea.

How you can help

Donation

Future needs nature. EuroNatur cares for it. Please use your possibilities to help. With your donation you will make an effective contribution to a more livable environment.

Sustaining membership

EuroNatur focuses on long-term nature conservation projects instead of quick fixes. With your regular donations, you give us the planning security we need.

News

Urgent call to halt implementation of Odra Revitalisation Act

Construction will have devastating consequences on the Odra and surrounding areas. 51 projects aim to engineer the rivers, create artificial…

Skavica mega dam: Albanian court to scrutinise special law for U.S. contractor Bechtel

++ Constitutional complaint filed by NGOs accepted for trial ++ First milestone in fight against one of Europe’s largest reservoirs ++ Thousands of…

Growing opposition to Albanian airport

++ Bern Convention calls on Albania to stop airport construction near Narta Lagoon ++ Project in Vjosa Delta endangers thousands of migratory birds ++…

EU Commission targets the wolf

Ursula von der Leyen warns of allegedly "dangerous wolves" - nature conservation organisations criticise misleading statements and dubious data…

Romanian forests: EuroNatur calls for a logging moratorium

+++ Open letter to Commissioner Sinkevičius calls for a logging moratorium in protected areas to end destruction of Romanian forests +++ Fourth…

Controversial airport construction in Albanian protected area casts shadow as far as Munich

++ Operating company Munich Airport International (MAI) is linked to illegal Vlora airport ++ Construction to take place in protected area of special…

Swimming for the monk seal

The Croatian free water swimmer Dina Levačić has been swimming in potential monk seal territories. Her campaign is aimed at drawing attention to the…

Wolf Offspring confirmed in the Black Forest

++ Photo trap image from the community of Schluchsee provides evidence of offspring ++ First wolf pack in over 150 years in Baden-Württemberg ++

Stork Village meeting in Tykocin, Poland

It was an anniversary celebrated in style: For the 20th annual meeting, representatives of the European Stork Villages met for the first time in the…