Seal station Norddeich
| Seal station Norddeich | ||
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| Full name | Seal station National Park House | |
| place | Dkörper Weg 24 26506 north |
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| opening | 1971; 1980; 2007 | |
| Animal species | 2 species | |
| Species focus | Seals | |
| Visitor numbers | 270,000 (2019) | |
| organization | ||
| management | Peter Lienau | |
| Sponsorship | Association for Research and Conservation of the Seal eV | |
 The seal station Norddeich |
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| www.seehundstation-norddeich.de | ||
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Coordinates: 53 ° 36 ′ 45 " N , 7 ° 9 ′ 34" E
The National Park House seal station is the only state-approved care station for marine mammals in Lower Saxony in the northern district of Norddeich . Between 80 and 180 orphaned seals , but also gray seals, are reared here every year and returned to the North Sea , for example on the Othelloplate on the eastern bank of Norderney .
The station is responsible for the entire Lower Saxony Wadden Sea , which enjoys special protection as a national park and world natural heritage site.
More than 100 voluntary employees - mostly mudflat hunters along the Lower Saxony coast and on the East Frisian Islands - support the work of the station. 33 permanent employees, including seven animal keepers, two veterinarians and up to 10 federal volunteers , as well as up to 12 interns annually take care of the marine mammals found. Two participants in the Voluntary Ecological Year and up to 10 other interns are active in environmental education.
The sponsor “Association for Research and Conservation of the Seal e. V. "is recognized as a non-profit organization. Members of the association are legal entities such as the Landesjägerschaft Niedersachsen eV, the district of Aurich, the city of Norden, the Jägerschaft Norden eV, the business operations of the city of Norden and the shipping company Frisia AG.
Areas of responsibility
The main tasks of the seal station include three subject areas: rearing and protecting seals, researching seals and public relations.
Rearing / protection of the seals
The focus is on rearing motherless seals. After successful care, the release and marking of the raised seals are also part of the tasks. The protection of the seals also includes the protection of their habitat. Up to now, thousands of “howlers”, as the baby seals are called because of their screams after their mother animals, have been raised here.
Researching the seals
The seal station is also used to collect all accessible data about the seal and its habitat, which is also obtained from the section of dead seals and other marine mammals. In addition, further special investigations are carried out, partly as part of the implementation of research assignments. The work of the seal station takes place in constant exchange with domestic and foreign breeding stations, research facilities and other institutions.
public relation
The more than 250,000 visitors who visit the station every year and are informed are of outstanding importance in the area of public relations. In addition, the seal station publishes documentation every two years, publishes books and information leaflets, organizes slide and video lectures, holds seminars, organizes exhibitions and maintains its own interactive environmental education exhibition.
History of the station
The Lower Saxony State Hunters' Association supported the project by providing DM 3,000 in 1971 for the construction of the breeding station at the swan pond in the north. The first howler was recorded on June 25, 1971; it had been found by a fisherman in Greetsiel . After successfully rearing it, it was released back into the wild on October 3, 1971.
The Association for Research and Conservation of the Seal eV was founded in 1978, an important basis for the new construction of the seal station in the Norddeich district in 1980. On January 1, 2006, the association, which is 98 percent self-financed, took over the Norddeich National Park House from 1992 to 2005 was operated by the city of Norden. In the winter of 2006/2007 the seal station at the Norden-Norddeich National Park House was completely rebuilt. On October 20, 2018, the "Research Area", an interactive exhibition on current research projects, was opened by Environment Minister Lies .
In December 2002 the association acquired the building of the former coastal radio station " Norddeich Radio " for the construction of a quarantine station . In November 2005, the Minister of Agriculture of Lower Saxony, Heiner Ehlen , opened the quarantine station for marine mammals. Six months later, an exhibition on whales opened. On June 11, 2006, the then Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Christian Wulff, inaugurated the “Waloseum”. On August 7, 2007, Environment Minister Sander inaugurated the exhibition “Birds of the Coast”. The inauguration of the new exhibition “Whales of the World” by Environment Minister Lies followed on April 6, 2019.
