Aerial surveys of Harbour Seals in the Wadden Sea in 2013
Is the population growth rate slowing down?
In 2013 the coordinated aerial surveys for harbour seal counts of the entire Wadden Sea were performed as in previous years (started in 1975). The counts are synchronised between the three Wadden Sea countries: Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands in order to obtain a single estimate for the number of harbour seals in the entire Wadden Sea and the number of pups born. Seals are counted when hauling out on sandbanks and counts are carried out when low-tide occurs during midday.
Trilateral Seal Expert Group (TSEG):
Sophie Brasseur, IMARES, Texel, The Netherlands
Britta Diederichs, LKN Schleswig-Holstein, National Park Administration, Tönning, Germany
Richard Czeck, National Park Administration Wadden Sea of Lower Saxony, Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Lasse Fast Jensen, Fisheries and Maritime Museum, Esbjerg, Denmark
Anders Galatius, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
Sven Ramdohr, LAVES Cuxhaven, Lower Saxony, Germany
Ursula Siebert, ITAW, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Büsum, Germany
Jonas Teilmann, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark (Chair of the TSEG)
Peter Körber, State Ministry for Urban Development and the Environment, National Park Wadden Sea of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Sascha Klöpper, Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, Wilhelmshaven, Germany (Secretary of TSEG)