Date

2019-02-01

Author

Kurt, Merve

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Evaluation of the breeding and resting habitats indicated that the most prominent threat is the construction of industrial infrastructure; it is followed by tourism, and construction of houses and roads. The consequences of disturbance on the seal habitats are observed as decrease in the survival and fecundity rates of the colony, and an increase in the mortality rates. Overall fecundity rate has been estimated as 0.19 pups per female for the Northeastern Mediterranean colony and 0.21 for the Mersin population. Among mortality rates of different age and sex groups, pup mortality is the highest with 0.29 and 0.33 for male and female pups respectively. Results of the study showed that the decreasing trend in number of seals in the Northeastern Mediterranean population has been reversed recently. In total 37 individuals photographed, and 5 of them died during the study period. Whelping occurred only in two marine caves and some of the actively used caves have been abandoned. Decrease in the number of breeding caves showed that whelping regressed to protected areas due to anthropogenic impacts. Moreover, observation of three adult females both in Antalya (P1) and Mersin (P2) indicate that populations interact to some level. Estimated mobility of the seals were varied between 16.3 km and 245 km. Mark-recapture method allowed us to estimate populations sizes which were 8±4.8 (95% CI) for Antalya population (P1), 33.1±5.5 (95% CI) for Mersin population (P2), and 37.1± 5.8 (95% CI) for the overall as a colony. Samandağ population was represented by a single individual, so mark-recapture equation was not applicable in the region. Population Viability Analysis showed that the dispersal among populations have a great importance for the survival of the species. However, even in the most optimistic results, all populations experienced extinction within next 100 years with current population parameters. In addition, results of the PVA indicated that the models were affected greatly by the carrying capacity. This emphasizes the importance of protection of breeding habitats. Considering the distance between suitable habitats, Marine Protected Areas with approximately 70 km steppingstones should be establish to facilitate connectivity between habitats and eventually for the survival of the species.

Subject Keywords

Mediterranean monk seal, Photo-identification, Population Viability Analysis (PVA), Marine Protected Area (MPA)

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/95079

Collections

Graduate School of Marine Sciences, Thesis