Willi (gray seal)
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Willi is the name of a gray seal ( Halichoerus grypus ) that is regularly in the harbor basin of Hörnum on the island of Sylt .
Life
At a young age she sought to get close to anglers who kept mackerel ready for her. As a result, she gradually got used to the people, so that she has been coming regularly to the Hörnum harbor basin in the summer months since 1991. It will likely stay there because it is being fed. It was only when Willi gave birth to a cub that it was recognized that this East Atlantic gray seal was not a male, which is why Wilhelmine is considered her "real" name. West of Amrum on the Jungnamensand she carried her young to death, because this sandbank is used by the gray seals as a retreat in winter.
With her estimated 200 kilograms, Willi is heavier than average. Wild adult females typically weigh up to 150 kilograms. Less effort in foraging for food compared to their fellow species is probably the cause of the obesity.
Since late summer 2017, Willi has been accompanied by another gray seal called "Sylta".
Significance for environmental protection and tourism
According to the then head of the Sylt branch of the Wadden Sea Protection Station , Lothar Koch, Willi arouses interest in her fellow species living in the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park . Wild marine mammals are generally an advertising factor for tourism that should not be underestimated.
Willi in the media
The gray seal Willi is part of media reports about Sylt. Among other things, she was mentioned on ZDF in the ML Mona Lisa program , in the Rheinische Post , in the magazine of the Süddeutsche Zeitung , in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and in the Hamburger Abendblatt . Some travel guides also draw attention to Willi.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt: Von Walen und Robben - and Willi, June 12, 1999, p. 6
- ^ Frank Deppe, Volker Frenzel: Sylt - Even more island stories, media publishing house Schubert, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-92922998-6
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ Koch, L. (1999) in: Von Walen und Robben - and Willi, article in the Hamburger Abendblatt, June 12, 1999, p. 6
- ↑ ZDF: ML Mona Lisa ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Rheinische Post RP-Online: Ten good reasons for Sylt ( Memento of the original from April 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin Hörnum-Leuchtturm, Sylt Issue 10/2009
- ^ Frankfurter Allgemeine: Sylt islands in the snow February 9, 2010
- ^ Hamburger Abendblatt: Sylt Hörnum - Einsame Spitze ( Memento from March 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Hamburger Abendblatt from April 10, 2006
