Lithuania to save Baltic seals as ice sheets recede due to climate change

The seal colonisation has accrued from astir 4,000, considered astir extinct, successful the precocious 1980s to astir 50,000.

Lithuania volition marque a concerted effort to prevention its grey seal population, which has managed to stabilise though continues to stay vulnerable, successful the Baltic Sea arsenic it contends with shrinking food stocks, contamination and the antagonistic effect of clime change.

Over the years, Lithuania has introduced respective bans, including connected toxic pesticide usage and commercialized cod fishing, successful an effort to fortify its grey seal population.

The effects of clime alteration connected the seals’ situation are severe, arsenic the Baltic Sea, which is shared by the European Union and Russia, seldom freezes implicit now, depriving the seals of sanctuaries to rear their cubs.

“Mothers are forced to breed connected onshore successful precocious attraction with different seals,” said Vaida Surviliene, a idiosyncratic astatine Lithuania’s Vilnius University told the AFP quality agency. “They are incapable to recognise their cubs and often permission them due to the fact that of it,” she said.

Survival rates for cubs successful the chaotic tin beryllium arsenic debased arsenic 5 percent, according to section scientists.

Rearing cubs ashore besides leaves parent seals exposed to humans, different chaotic animals, rowdy males, arsenic good arsenic a higher hazard of diseases, according to Arunas Grusas, a biologist astatine the Baltic Sea Animal Rehabilitation Centre successful the Lithuanian larboard of Klaipeda.

Employees transportation a grey seal pup for transport by vessel to the merchandise tract of the Baltic Sea Animal Rehabilitation Centre successful Klaipeda, Lithuania connected July 2, 2025. [Petras Malukas/AFP]

Grusas archetypal began caring for seals successful 1987, erstwhile helium brought backmost a pup to his bureau astatine the Klaipeda Sea Museum, which present oversees the caller rehabilitation centre built successful 2022.

“We taught them however to provender themselves, got them utilized to the h2o – they had to get comfy with the sea, which spat them retired ashore practically dying,” Grusas said.

The precise archetypal cubs were placed into makeshift baths acceptable up successful an office. The scientists past nursed them backmost to health, archetypal with liquid look earlier moving connected to coagulated food.

In the precocious 1980s, the seals were astir extinct – determination were conscionable astir 4,000 to 5,000 near successful the sea, from a colonisation of astir 100,000 earlier World War II.

Recently, a increasing fig of big seals person been washing up connected Lithuanian beaches.

Scientists similar Grusas constituent the digit astatine near-shore sportfishing nets, wherever seals hopeless for nutrient extremity up entangled and yet drown.

Once the seals are acceptable to re-enter the wild, scientists merchandise them into the oversea with GPS trackers, which amusement the seals mostly favour a way northbound towards the Swedish Gotland land successful the mediate of the Baltic Sea, wherever food are much plentiful.

Some, however, are frightened to task disconnected unsocial and instrumentality to the vessel from which they were released. Eventually, they each find their mode backmost to the wild.

The yearly maximum crystal grade successful the Baltic Sea has been decreasing rapidly since the 1980s, with the lowest grade connected grounds successful the wintertime of 2019-2020.