Seals and shipwrecks: lapping up the beauty of the northern Aegean

Sunbathe with endangered wildlife and dive for ancient treasure off the island of Alonissos, one of the world's 'most sustainable' destinationsI tiptoe along the dune-edged path, bare feet scratched by bone-white slivers of shell as the sun rises above the Aegean's waves. Ahead of me a Mediterranean monk seal lounges on one of the sunbeds of Marpunta, a remote resort on the windswept southern tip of Alonissos. I watch as he scratches his stomach and yawns showing pointy teeth, and then I sneak off to breakfast.Over crispy, deep-fried fouskakia pastries and almond-stuffed amigdalota cookies, waitress Eleni tells me that these seals (Monachus monachus) often come to sunbathe on the hotel's shingle beach. "They are an endangered species - there are fewer than 700 of them left in the Mediterranean and most of them are here near Alonissos, so you could say we're pretty lucky." Continue reading...