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The Week in Germany: Business, Technology and the Environment

August 17, 2007

The Cuteness Factor: Seals Reappear along Germany's Baltic Coast

This seal recently took a long nap on the beach in Prerow, on the Baltic coast's Fischland-Darss-Zingst peninsula between the cities of Rostock and Stralsund, and was hardly bothered by a few polite beachcombers. photos: dpa

Thousands of seals used to frolic in the Baltic Sea, yet hunting and pollution have contributed to a massive decline in their numbers.

Now some seal populations have begun to bounce back. And so suddenly this summer people are stumbling upon lone seals sunbathing and resting along the sandy shores of Germany's most northeasterly state, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Surprised and concerned, some bathers have tried to coax the seals back into the water, assuming they were lost, like beached whales.

Regional marine mammal experts have however warned that bathers should leave the seals alone and try not to shoo them back in the water as they are really trying to rest up on shore before plunging back into the Baltic.

A playful seal takes a peek at visitors at Bremerhaven's aquarium. Seals are also found along Germany's North Sea coastline.

Certain individual seals, mostly young animals, including one nicknamed "Horst", have been spotted at several locations along Germany's Baltic seashore. Renowned for its long sandy beaches, this coastline wends its way from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, dotted by several seaside resorts and stunning islands including Rügen and Usedom, along the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, with peaceful bucolic shorelines and coastal cities including Lübeck and Kiel, up towards Denmark.

Protection from hunting has allowed for the seals to make a comeback. According to experts many of them come from Danish seal colonies.

Among the breeds found in Baltic waters are the ringed seal, the grey seal, the harbor seal and - albeit only extremely rarely - the bearded seal, which generally prefers Arctic waters.

Kissin' cousins: A harbor seal (at left) and a grey seal greet each other at the Seehundstation Friedrichskoog, a seal station located along Schleswig-Holstein's North Sea coast.

Links:

Federal Ministry for the Environment

German National Tourist Board (GNTB)

Beach Bums (Spiegel Online photo story)

Rostock Zoo (in German)

Kiel Aquarium (in German)

Meereszentrum Fehmarn (in German)

Denmark-Germany Bridge to Replace Ferries (TWIG, Feb. 23, 2007)

Cornerstone Laid in Stralsund for Grand Aquarium (TWIG, Sept. 22, 2006)

Urgent Action Needed to Prevent Future Ocean Crisis (Germany.info)

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