Over the last few months British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) have been working with their colleagues in the Seal Alliance coalition of seal conservation groups to produce a new nationwide guide to ‘Watching Seals Well’ when people are out and about on the coast, to get the best experience observing seals in their natural habitat while preventing disturbance as much as possible!
Disturbance of seals at haul out sites from people, dogs, boats, kayaks etc approaching to closely and noisily, is one of the biggest threats seals face in this country, with many places experiencing chronic, repeated incidents multiple times per day (or hour!), which is causing cumulative levels of stress and wasted energy, but also injuries and potentially separating pups from their mums as seals stampede into the sea for safety, which sadly sometimes results in them needing to be rescued.
The BDMLR’s brand new leaflet, which can double as a poster, will be shared out around the country to be distributed in strategic locations to help raise awareness of this nationally important issue with these consistent shared messages from our groups in the Seal Alliance, and also endorsed by the Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
You can download the leaflet as a pdf file by clicking here.
Lets put and end to this easily preventable problem together, and give our seals and other marine wildlife more respect!
With thanks to Seal Protection Action Group, Ythan Seal Watch, St Mary’s Island Wildlife Conservation Society, Yorkshire Seal Group, North Wales Seal Research Organisation, Friends of Horsey Seals, The Seal Project and Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust.