Wadden (Sea)

   Part of the North Sea adjacent to the Dutch provinces of Northern Holland, Frisia, and Groningen, the Ger man regions of Eastern Frisia and Schleswig-Holstein, and the south of Denmark. The sea is so shallow here that the floor comes to the surface daily as the water recedes. The Wadden Sea contains a pe culiar geomorphology, flora and fauna, and is considered a nature re serve. Between the Wadden Sea and the North Sea are several Dutch isles, five of which are inhabited: Texel (Northern Holland), Vlieland (Frisian Flylan), Terschelling (Frisian Skylge), Ameland (Frisian It Amelan) and Schiermonnikoog (Frisian Skiermuntseach), the last designated a national park in 1989. Since the first concessions were permitted for exploratory drillings for natural gas in the Wadden around 1970, heated debates about the extraction have continued. One of the opinion makers is the Wadden Society, which was founded in 1965 in order to protect the typical sea environment. Cen ters for the care of sick and young (lost) seals have been operating on the isle of Texel and in the Groningen village of Pieterburen since 1952 and 1971, respectively.