Aerial surveys of grey seals in the Wadden Sea in the season of 2009-2010

Fewer animals during the moult, more pups

In the Netherlands, dedicated aerial surveys have been carried out since 2002. From 2006 onwards, aerial surveys of grey seals have been synchronized and coordinated trilaterally within the Wadden Sea. However, this only applies to Germany and the Netherlands as no breeding population of grey seals is present in the Danish part of the Wadden Sea. During summer harbour seal counts, 40 grey seals were observed in Denmark. Like in former years, two surveys are carried out during the moult (March-April). These are supplemented by several aerial or boat counts during the pupping season (November-January). On Helgoland (Germany), surveys are carried out from land.

Authors

Trilateral Seal Expert Group (TSEG):
Sophie Brasseur and Peter Reijnders, IMARES, Texel, The Netherlands
Thomas Borchardt, LKN Schleswig-Holstein, Nationalparkverwaltung, Germany
Ursula Siebert, FTZ-Büsum der Universität Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Sven Ramdohr, LAVES Cuxhaven, Niedersachsen, Germany
Richard Czeck, Nationalparkverwaltung Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer, Niedersachsen, Germany
Peter Körber, BSU, Nationalpark Hamburgisches Wattenmeer, Hamburg, Germany
Lasse Fast Jensen, Fiskeri- og Søfartmuseet, Esbjerg, Denmark
Jonas Teilmann, National Environmental Research Institute, Aarhus University, Denmark