NatureScot Commissioned Report 929: Surveys of harbour and grey seals on the south-east (border to Aberlady Bay) and south-west (Sound of Jura to Solway Firth) coasts of Scotland, in Shetland, in the Moray Firth and in the Firth of Tay in August 2015

Surveys of harbour and grey seals were carried out in August 2015 in:

• Shetland
• the south-east coast
• the south-west coast
• Moray Firth
• Firth of Tay

They were part of an ongoing programme of surveys commissioned by NatureScot in collaboration with the Sea Mammal Research Unit at the University of St Andrews.

The Shetland survey was the first in six years, and the number of harbour seals counted in 2015 (3,369 seals) differed little from 2009 (3,039 seals).

In south-west Scotland, harbour seals have increased in number since they were last counted. In 2014 and 2015, 7,645 seals were recorded, compared with 5,930 seals in 2007 and 2009. This scale of increase has been observed in harbour seal populations all along the west coast of Scotland.

Numbers on the east coast remain very depressed. Only 60 harbour seals were counted in the Firth of Tay – around 10% of the number recorded in 1997. The 2015 survey counted 745 seals in the Moray Firth. Though this was very similar to the figure recorded in 2007 and 2009 (776 seals), it was just over half the 1997 figure (1,409 seals).

Grey seals were counted at the same time. Their numbers across the survey locations varied hugely, but the figures do show the distribution of grey seals around the coast.

Published: 2016
Pages: 43

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