On March 22, the world celebrates International Seal Day, a time to raise awareness about the challenges faced by these magnificent marine mammals. One of the most pressing issues is the prevalence of plastic ‘necklaces’ that entangle seals, leading to severe injuries and even death.
“You will always be able to tell in the wild if a seal was entangled because they will have a ring around them, a permanent ring,” said Evangelos Achilleos, manager of East Winch Wildlife Center and a front-line seal rescuer.
These seals, often referred to as \"necklace seals,\" bear scars from fishing nets, flying rings, and other marine debris. Behind these intriguing names lie countless harrowing stories of struggle and survival.
A study conducted in 2019 by researchers at the Mammal Research Institute and the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of Pretoria found that sixty-seven percent of aquatic mammals, including seals, sea lions, and walruses, are at risk of entanglement. Despite growing awareness, marine debris remains one of the biggest threats to seal populations.
Each year, about 8 million tonnes of plastic are dumped into the ocean. According to the journal Science, nearly 2 percent of all fishing gear is lost to the ocean annually, including 2,963 square kilometers of gillnets, 75,049 square kilometers of purse seine nets, 218 square kilometers of trawl nets, 739,583 square kilometers of longline mainlines, and more than 25 million pots and traps.
On this year's International Seal Day, CGTN's Earth Alert program interviewed Achilleos to delve into the efforts being made to rescue and protect these vulnerable \"necklace seals.\"
Reference(s):
International Seal Day: How plastic 'necklaces' are killing seals
cgtn.com
