Contributions from the three signatory countries of the Pelagos Agreement – and the association Nage Libre France – have totalled half a million euros to date, money that will be used to support the “Pelagos Action Plan 2022-2027.”

Contributions to the fund are also welcome from private individuals. Anyone who wishes to support the protection of whales, dolphins and monk seals and their precious environment can make a donation to the Pelagos Sanctuary by contacting the Permanent Secretariat directly at: secretariat@pelagosanctuary.org

One particular project that will benefit is a mapping of the risk caused by underwater noise to cetaceans in the Sanctuary.

The Pelagos Agreement for the creation of a Sanctuary for the protection of marine mammals in the Mediterranean came into being in 2002. The Pelagos Sanctuary is the only international cross-border area dedicated to the protection of mammals in the Mediterranean. The area is characterised by extraordinary biodiversity, in which eight cetacean species are regularly sighted and the monk seal can also be rarely sighted.

The Agreement was created with the goal of improving the conservation of the marine environment by assessing and managing the impact of humans on the habitat of marine mammals.

FILE PHOTO: A rare Monk Seal. Daily Sabah