Recent counts and distribution of UK seals during August surveys

SMRU conduct, and collate data from, August surveys of seal haulout sites across the UK. Harbour seals moult in August in the UK, and a high and consistent proportion of the population is hauled out and available to survey. For grey seals, August represents a key foraging month, and thus counts represent the haulout distribution during foraging season complementing estimates of pup production (number of pups born) from breeding season surveys. In August 2022 and 2023, the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) carried out helicopter surveys using a thermal imager of the entire west coast of Scotland from Cape Wrath to the border (Southwest Scotland and West Scotland Seal Monitoring Units; SMUs) and of the Western Isles SMU. Part of the Moray Firth SMU and the Firth of Tay and Eden Estuary SAC in East Scotland SMU are surveyed annually by fixed-wing aircraft. In August 2023, an additional fixed-wing survey also covered the offshore islands (West Scotland, Western Isles, and North Coast & Orkney SMUs) which are not included during helicopter surveys. In England, the annual SMRU fixed-wing surveys cover the Lincolnshire and Norfolk coasts and ZSL cover the Essex and Kent coasts (Southeast England SMU). In 2023, for the first time, SMRU conducted a fixed-wing survey of Southwest England and Wales. Various organisations around England and Wales contribute additional local ground counts or boat-based counts. Here the following new results from these surveys are presented: West Scotland SMU (2022; northern half); Western Isles SMU (2022); Southwest England SMU; Wales SMU and surveyed areas of Moray Firth, East Scotland and Southeast England SMUs (2022 & 2023). The surveys from Southwest Scotland SMU and West Scotland SMU (southern half; 2023) will be presented in SCOS 2025. Based on the most recent available August count data for all SMUs, the number of harbour seals counted in Scotland was 24,822, and in England it was 3,537. Including 818 harbour seals counted in Northern Ireland in 2021, the most recent UK harbour seal total count is 29,178. The number of grey seals counted in Scotland was 20,943, in England it was 17,097, and in Wales it was 1,313. Including 549 grey seals counted in Northern Ireland in 2021, the UK grey seal total count for this period was 39,902.