Snap-happy tourists imperil Ionian seal haven
A dot on he map southeast of Lefkada in the Ionian Sea, the uninhabited islet of Formikoula was an important haven for the vulnerable Mediterranean monk seal, for loggerhead turtles and for myriad seabirds, thanks to its craggy landscape and caves. That is, until its discovery in 2021 by social media happy tourists going to all sorts of lengths to secure a shot of a seal.
“I counted 51 boats last Monday – and that’s around an island of just 400 meters,” photojournalist Dimitris Tosidis, who was in the area and captured the phenomenon on camera, tells Kathimerini, adding that he has even seen visitors “swim into the caves for a photograph of the seals with their pups.”
According to the Ionian Dolphin Project implemented by Tethys Research Institute, more than 40 seals have been recorded in the area.
“It is also a biodiversity fortress, as is the entire inner Ionian archipelago,” says Ioannis Giovos, conservation officer at NGO iSea, referring to an area that belongs to the Natura 2000 protected areas network.
Visitors, says Giovas, are not the problem; how they behave is. “We’re not talking about an organized form of wildlife watching, but about people actively looking for seals.”
iSea, Tethys, the Blue Marine Foundation and the Municipality of Lefkada wrote to the Environment Ministry two years ago recommending a series of measures that were included in the Special Environmental Study for the area to protect Formikoula’s denizens. Nothing has been done yet for its immediate protection, pending the Presidential Decree for their implementation.
