by Burak Akinci
ANKARA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Tourism is a vital industry for Türkiye's economy. However, the surge in visitors to Antalya, a beloved coastal vacation spot, is endangering the habitats of endangered Mediterranean monk seals.
The increasing presence of stand-up paddleboarders and cruising ships at sea cliffs and rocky areas in Antalya, designated as wildlife-protected nesting sites for seals, has raised alarms among experts.
Cem Orkun Kirac, an expert on marine animals and coastal zone management, said those tourists often venture into caves, disturbing the monk seals.
"They sometimes capture photos of female seals who just delivered a pup. This is wrong and forbidden according to laws and regulations," Kirac told Xinhua, warning of unwanted interactions between humans and the animals.
Coastal caves are essential habitats for monk seals, as these animals breed and raise their young in the dry sections of these formations, making them crucial to the ecosystem, explained Kirac, a founding member of Underwater Research Society-Mediterranean Seal Research Group, a non-governmental organization working for the protection of the endangered monk seal and its coastal and marine habitats.
Moreover, speedboats of some hotels and diving school members sometimes come too close to monk seal habitats, where adult females feel very much disturbed inside the caves, he added.
"Suitable sea caves are the only places within the species' habitat for reproduction and resting, and therefore play a crucial role for the continued survival of this rare marine mammal," Kirac emphasized.
Seal monks also nest further west in Türkiye, in Kekova, Marmaris, Dalaman, Cesme, and Kas, all sightseeing regions where disturbance by tourists of the animals has also been reported. Among these places, Antalya stands out.
As one of Türkiye's top tourist attractions, Antalya welcomed a record of around 16 million foreign travelers to the region's many holiday resorts in 2023, accounting for nearly a third of all tourist arrivals.
Mehmet Gokoglu, a scholar on marine life from Antalya's Akdeniz University Faculty of Marine Sciences, also rang the alarm bell recently for the protection of the seals.
"There are baby seals inside the caves who are being fed by their mothers. They might leave their babies as they feel threatened by people and we might lose the baby," the scholar told Demiroren News Agency.
Highlighting that Mediterranean monk seals only give birth every other year, the professor described this situation as a significant threat to the species.
"As these places are rare nesting areas, human beings must not interfere in them," Gokoglu said, suggesting that sports should be practiced without getting too close to the cliff shores, and recommending setting a boundary with buoys to prevent encroachment into sensitive zones.
The monk seals are on the brink of extinction with merely 700 animals remaining in the world in the Mediterranean basin. And only about a hundred of these seals inhabit the coasts of Türkiye, according to the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
In Kirac's view, Antalya can be a place of "harmonious cohabitation" between humans and animals who live there by way of responsible tourism practices.
"People should respect the delicate ecosystem and understand its importance," the marine conservationist pointed out. "Protecting the monk seal is protecting the Mediterranean Sea."
