After more than fifty years in Pieterburen, we moved to Lauwersoog in 2025. After decades of intensive use, our centre in Pieterburen was in urgent need of renovation. The old site also no longer gave us enough room to develop our seal care, research and educational programmes. We were unable to guarantee the level of care that was required.

Therefore, a new location was essential to ensure that we could continue our work effectively in the future. In Lauwersoog, we have a modern seal hospital and facilities for scientific research, including laboratories. We also have more space for education and school programmes. This allows us not only to provide better care for sick and injured seals, but also to expand and share our knowledge. 

Our location directly by the Wadden Sea is a perfect fit for our work. In Lauwersoog, we can care for seals in purified seawater and, once they have recovered, release them directly back into the sea from our centre. We are literally closer to the seals and to the Wadden Sea, allowing us to do even more to protect a healthy environment for them. 

We are in discussions with our creditors and are working with other parties involved to explore possible solutions. These discussions are ongoing and their outcome is currently uncertain.

The move and the development of the new location have placed considerable pressure on our organisation in recent years. It was a necessary investment for the future of our work, but it has also used up a large part of our financial reserves.

At the same time, our income has fallen short of expectations. We are therefore working to increase our income and have significantly reduced our costs.

Without additional funding and/or a substantial improvement in our income, there is uncertainty about our ability to continue our work. That is why we are working intensively with our creditors and other parties involved to find solutions that will structurally improve our financial position and allow us to continue our work for the public benefit.

In the meantime, the day-to-day care of seals continues. A seal that needs help today cannot wait.

That is why admission fees and donations are so important. They contribute to the day-to-day running of our organisation and make seal care possible. This includes medical care, food, operations and protective equipment, as well as clean water, ambulances, maintenance and the people needed to provide this care.

In recent weeks, various media outlets have reported on our financial situation, outstanding obligations and the uncertainty surrounding the future of the WEC. This coverage relates to the financial situation explained above.

However, media reports do not always provide a complete picture of the situation. Ongoing discussions, negotiations and disputes are not public, which means that reports and conclusions may sometimes be based on incomplete information or assumptions. We do not comment on the content of these ongoing discussions, negotiations or disputes.

When there are relevant developments that we are able to share, we will provide information through our own channels.

The seal populations in the Wadden Sea are healthy and stable. So, is our work still needed? Yes. Even healthy populations need protection, research and attention.

That is also why, in 2020, we signed the Seal Agreement together with the government and other seal rehabilitation centres. The agreement sets out when seals should be taken into care and how we can do this responsibly.

Even in a healthy population, individual seals can get into trouble, often as a result of human activity. They can become entangled in litter and fishing gear, sick animals sometimes do not get the peace and quiet they need, and pups can lose their mothers when people come too close. Through rehabilitation, we help seals when necessary. Through education, we also raise awareness of the impact our own actions have on seals and their habitat.

At the same time, we are seeing developments that call for further research. For example, young common seals are disappearing from the population, and we do not yet know exactly why. By closely monitoring changes in seal populations and their health, we can better understand what is happening and where action is needed. This allows us to keep a close eye on developments and contribute to healthy seal populations, now and in the future.

WEC/Seal Centre is not a commercial organisation. We are a non-profit foundation with ANBI status (Public Benefit Organisation). Our aim is not to make a profit, but to make our work for seals and the Wadden Sea possible.

As an ANBI, we must meet various requirements. For example, at least 90% of our activities must serve the public benefit, and at least 90% of our expenditure must be dedicated to this purpose.

For us, this means that the vast majority of our funding and efforts go towards our mission: caring for and protecting seals, researching their health and habitat, and increasing knowledge about the Wadden Sea.

We also have the CBF quality mark. CBF is the independent regulator for charities in the Netherlands and assesses areas including good governance, finances and how an organisation manages its income. We are also accountable to CBF for these areas.

We will continue looking for ways to increase our income from visitors, donors, funds and other forms of support. At the same time, we have significantly reduced our costs and are working with a very tight budget. We continue to carefully assess what is genuinely necessary.

We are also working with our creditors and other parties involved to find solutions for the financial obligations that have arisen. We are therefore not only working to increase our income in the short term, but also towards a sound financial foundation for the long term.

Because financial stability is not an end in itself. It ensures that we can continue, now and in the future, to do what we have stood for for more than 50 years: healthy seals in a healthy Wadden Sea. The support of everyone who cares about seals and the Wadden Sea is greatly needed. After all, the WEC is here for everyone who cares deeply about seals and the Wadden Sea.