During their last meeting in October 2021, the members of the Expert Group Salt Marshes and Dunes visited the Marconi salt marshes, a salt marsh development project by Bioshape in the Netherlands.

Thirty years after the implementation of the Wadden Sea Seal Agreement, the population of harbour seals in the Wadden Sea, has increased five-fold and is assumed to have reached the same level as estimated in 1900.

Since October, multiple cases of bird flu have been reported in the Wadden Sea. Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands all confirmed that the highly pathogenic bird flu virus HPAI has been identified in dead migratory birds found within the Wadden Sea.

A milestone for the remarkable recovery of the Wadden Sea harbour seal population.

The Wadden Sea is well known for the large flocks of birds that visit the area during the annual migration to and from the Arctic. In recent years, there has been increased concern about these Arctic travellers due to the impact of changing climatic conditions in the Arctic.

More than 100 dead harbour porpoises have washed up on the beaches of the Dutch Wadden Sea islands of Vlieland, Terschelling, Ameland and Schiermonnikoog in the last week, as reported by the University of Utrecht.

The 2020-2021 counts show a steady increase in the number of grey seals in the Wadden Sea.