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| Dimitris the baby seal being released into the wild. |
Hello my friends!
July has been a lucky month for us! I have two pieces of good news to share with you. As you know, my friends at the SAD-AFAG work hard to protect us and our habitat. Recently, a press conference was held at the Cıragan Hotel in Istanbul to discuss the establishment of marine and coastal protected zones for Mediterranean Monk Seals in Turkey. The conference was attended by the Turkish Environment and Forestry Minister Osman Pepe, MP for Istanbul Zeynep Karahan and SAD-AFAG officials. Important steps were taken towards turning 5 important seal habitats into protected zones. The five zones chosen by the National Seal Committee are: Gökceada (Canakkale); Foca and the Karaburun Peninsula (Izmir); Alacatı-Sigacık (Izmir); the Bodrum Peninsula and Islands (Mugla) and Gazipasa-Tasucu (Antalya and Mersin).
Initially, the Foca Special Area of Conservation will be expanded and the coast between Gazipasa and Tasucu will be declared a protected zone. A new statute will be set up to establish the other 3 protected zones. The Gate, my adoptive parent, also attended the conference.
My second piece of good news comes from Greece. Thanks to the efforts of the MOm (Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal), Dimitris, an orphaned seal, was released into the National Marine Park of Alonissos on May 22. My SAD-AFAG friends were there for the occasion. See: www.mom.gr/eng_version/eng_version.htm
Sleepyhead
