IZMIR - Turkey and Greece started to cooperate in a project entitled ''Bridge'' backed by the European Union (EU) to protect Mediterranean seals, sources said on Monday.
Sources said that officials of Turkish Underwater Researches Association's Mediterranean Seal Research Group (SAD-AFAG) met with officials of Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal (MOm) in Greece in May and exchanged views about protection of Mediterranean seals which are among 12 species facing the danger of extinction.
SAD-AFAG official responsible for communication Yesim Aslan told A.A correspondent that Turkish and Greek coasts were the most important habitats where the Mediterranean seals lived and produced.
Aslan said that one of the main goals of the project was to develop projects for protection of the seals.
Baby Mediterranean seal named ''Dimitris'', which was found near Karpathos island of Greece last December and which was believed to lost its mother, was left to its habitat near Alonissos island in the north of the Aegean Sea, Aslan added.
The main threat to Monachus monachus (Mediterranean seal) is man and his activities. It is deliberately killed or accidentally caught in fishing equipment, and its food sources are being reduced. In addition, marine pollution and uncontrolled tourism are causing the destruction of its natural habitat. Since the monk seal is the top of the food chain, it can be considered an indicator of the overall state of health of the marine environment. Its extinction is therefore a prelude to the ultimate breakdown of the entire ecosystem.
(BRC-AÖ) 07.06.2004