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 endangered 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, according to a study on its Monachus monachus population. 

"I counted 51 boats last Monday - and that's around an island of just 400 meters," photojournalist Dimitris Tosidis, who has made a special study of the habitat, tells Kathimerini, adding that he has even seen visitors "swim into the caves for a photograph of the seals with their pups."

Ioannis Giovos, conservation officer at NGO iSea explains that studies by the Milan-based Tethys Research Institute have recorded 30 seals that live and...