August Seal Counts – England

April 2, 2025

For further info see the SCOS Reports

Harbour Seals

August counts of harbour seals on the English East Coast, 1968-2023.
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	Humber Estuary	Donna Nook	The Wash	Titchwell	Blakeney Point	Horsey	Scroby Sands	Yarmouth	Orford Ness	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	0	91			157	2,866		258	1	45
2021		86			122	2,667		181	12	25			498	3,505
2022		117	0	11	123	3,033	9	180	12	80		0	499	3,947
2023		106			97	2,500	23	153	17	32	40

Table created by Sea Mammal Research Unit on 02 April 2025

Grey Seals

August counts of grey seals on the English East Coast, 1988-2023
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	Humber Estuary	Donna Nook	The Wash	Titchwell	Blakeney Point	Horsey	Scroby Sands	Yarmouth	Orford Ness	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	4,586	22			4,982	644		765	504	1,191
2021		30			3,897	799		493	380	1,377			749	7,695
2022		51	322	31	3,517	1,074	0	370	237	2,099		42	854	8,224
2023		26			6,020	1,092	0	504	219	1,971	2

Table created by Sea Mammal Research Unit on 02 April 2025