August Seal Counts – England

Feb 8, 2023

For further info see the SCOS Reports

Harbour Seals

August counts of harbour seals on the English East Coast, 1968-2021.
Mean values are given for areas surveyed more than once in a single season. Counts were obtained from SMRU aerial surveys funded by NERC except for: The Tees – ground counts by Industry Nature Conservation Agency; Essex&Kent 2013-2017, 2019, and 2021 – aerial surveys by the Zoological Society of London. Other sites in NE England include St Mary’s Island, Ravenscar, and Filey Brigg.

	Northeast England			Southeast England
Year	N’umber-land	The Tees	Other sites	Donna Nook	The Wash	Blakeney Point	Horsey	Scroby Sands	Essex & Kent	SE total
1968					1,468
1969					1,598
1970					1,662
1971
1972					1,632
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978					2,181
1979
1980					2,198
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988				173	3,035	701
1989		16		126	1,556	307
1990		23		57	1,543
1991		24			1,398
1992		27		32	1,671	217
1993		30		88	1,884	267
1994	13	35		103	2,011	196		61
1995		33		115	2,084	415		49	130	2,793
1996		42		162	2,151	372		51
1997	12	42		251	2,466	311		65
1998		41		248	2,374	637		52
1999		36		304	2,392	659		72
2000	10	59		390	2,779	895		47
2001		59		233	3,194	772		75
2002		52		341	2,977	489
2003		38		231	2,513	399		38	180	3,361
2004		40		294	2,147	646		57
2005	17	50		421	1,946	709		56
2006		45		299	1,695	719		71
2007	7	43		214	2,162	550
2008	9	41		191	2,011	581		81	319	3,182
2009		49		267	2,829	372		165
2010		53		176	2,586	391		201	379	3,733
2011		57		205	2,894	349		119
2012		63		192	3,372	409		161
2013		74		396	3,174	304		148	482	4,504
2014		81		353	3,086	468		285	489	4,681
2015	0	91		228	3,336	455		270	451	4,740
2016		86	0	369	3,377	424		198	694	5,061
2017		87		290	3,210	399		271	795	4,965
2018	3	76		146	3,632	218	17	210	738	4,961
2019		76		128	2,415	329	16	193	671	3,752
2020		91		157	2,866	258	1	45
2021		86		122	2,667	181	12	25	498	3,505

Table created by Sea Mammal Research Unit on 3 February 2023

Grey Seals

August counts of grey seals on the English East Coast, 1988-2021.
Mean values are given for areas surveyed more than once in a single season. Counts were obtained from SMRU aerial surveys funded by NERC except for: The Tees – ground counts by Industry Nature Conservation Agency; Essex&Kent 2013-2017, 2019, and 2021 – aerial surveys by the Zoological Society of London. Other sites in NE England include St Mary’s Island, Ravenscar, and Filey Brigg.

	Northeast England SMU			Southeast England SMU
Year	N’umber-land	The Tees	Other sites	Donna Nook	The Wash	Blakeney Point	Horsey	Scroby Sands	Essex & Kent	SE total
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988					52	1
1989		7
1990		9		115	10
1991		8			48
1992		9		235	35	6
1993		9		59	64	7
1994	100	6		100	94	40		43
1995		10		123	66	18		32
1996		11		119	60	11		46
1997	603	10		289	49	45		34
1998		11		174	53	33		23
1999		12		317	57	14		89
2000	568	11		390	40	17		40
2001		11		214	111	30		70
2002		12		291	75	11
2003		11		232	58	18		36	96	440
2004		13		609	30	10		93
2005	1,092	12		927	49	86		106
2006		8		1,789	52	142		187
2007	1,907	8		1,834	42
2008	2,338	12		2,068	68	375		137	160	2,807
2009		12		1,329	118	22		157
2010		14		2,188	240	49		292	393	3,161
2011		14		1,930	142	300		323
2012		18		4,978	258	65		126
2013		16		3,474	219	63		219	203	4,178
2014		16		4,437	223	445		509	449	6,063
2015	6,926	16		3,766	369	528		520	454	5,637
2016		22	60	3,964	431	355		642	481	5,872
2017		27		6,526	688	502		425	575	8,716
2018	6,427	15		6,288	253	360	205	497	596	8,199
2019		14		5,265	540	635	119	1,333	775	8,667
2020		22		4,982	644	765	504	1,191
2021		30		3,897	799	493	380	1,377	749	7,695

Table created by Sea Mammal Research Unit on 3 February 2023