Harbour Seal Numbers in the Wadden Sea and on Helgoland in 2007

Trilateral Seal Expert Group (TSEG)

Again in 2007 the surveys to monitor developments in the harbour seal Phoca vitulina population in the entire Wadden Sea were trilaterally co-ordinated and synchronously carried out according to the Seal mangement Plan. The nearly simultaneous surveys in the four subregions revealed the following results: the maximum number counted in the moulting period (August) was 4,159 in The Netherlands, 4,561 in Niedersachsen/Hamburg, 6,386 in Schleswig-Holstein, and 2,499 in Denmark. This brings the grand total to 17,605 harbour seals.

Authors:

Trilateral Seal Expert Group (TSEG):
Peter J.H. Reijnders and Sophie M.J.M. Brasseur, IMARES, Texel, The Netherlands
Thomas Borchardt, National Park Schleswig-Holstein, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Ursula Siebert, FTZ-Büsum der Universität Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Michael Stede, LAVES Cuxhaven, Niedersachsen, Germany
Svend Tougaard, Fiskeri- og Søfartmuseet, Esbjerg, Denmark