A little place for me to put my nonsense FNAF au featuring my cast of seal animatronics.Not an ask blog but questions for them are absolutely welcomed.
"Freddy Fazbear and friends would like to introduce you to their pinniped pals over at Fazbear's Oceans of Fun! Meet our fin footed friends and enjoy the aquatic world of Oceans of Fun with Neil the magic Harbour seal and his colourful pinniped pals! Come dine and play as they slide, bounce and swim into your heart! Don't forget to visit our gift shop and keep the fun going long after you've come ashore. Fazbear's Oceans of Fun, where you'll get the seal of approval!"
This is a happy place for me to brainstorm and post ideas and concepts for my FNAF AU featuring a Fazbear’s Produced pizzeria of pinniped pals.
Once on the brink of extinction, the rare marine mammal's populations are rising, thanks to conservation efforts.
Once on the brink of extinction, rare Mediterranean monk seal populations are rising, thanks to conservation efforts.
The Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal, known as MOm, is a charity dedicated to the care and protection of these rare marine animals.
Nearly half of the world's estimated 800 Mediterranean monk seals live in Greek waters, where the extensive coastline offers an abundance of sea caves that provide shelter for females to rear their young.
The rare seals are the only seal species in the Mediterranean. They have big, round eyes, prominent whiskers and are remarkably fast in the water...
In the twentieth century, habitat deterioration and destruction, as well as deliberate aggression from fisherman has caused a drastic population decline, prompting the International Union for Conversation of Nature (IUCN) to classify them as 'critically endangered'.
The population had decreased so dramatically that at one point the species faced extinction.
Pictured: Panagis is one of dozens of monk seals nursed back to health by the Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal, known as MOm.
How conservation efforts are changing their fate
Dr Alexandros Dendrinos, a marine biologist and coordinator at MOm, explains that the Mediterranean monk seal is "one of the rarest species of seal and marine mammal in the world."
"To protect an animal like the Mediterranean monk seal in its natural environment, you essentially have to protect the entire marine ecosystem,"
MOm is the only centre of its kind in the region, and has cared for around 40 seals both on location and at its facilities.
They respond to members of the public who find an animal in distress, aiding adult seals on-site when possible and bringing young seals, like Panagais, to the rehabilitation centre at Attica Zoological Park in Athens.
The young seals receive veterinary care, specialised nutrition, and swimming practice.
They are often named after those who found them, but human interaction is kept minimal to ensure their successful reintegration into the wild.
Once they have reached a healthy weight and developed natural hunting instincts, they are tagged for tracking and reintroduced to their natural habitat.
"This year, we had a really pleasant surprise," Dr Dendrinos shared.
A female seal they rehabilitated and released four years ago was recently spotted nursing her own pup.
Conservation efforts have yielded significant results as the species moved from critically endangered to endangered on the IUCN Red List and, in 2023, improved even further to vulnerable.