34 returned results for 'seal'

  • Responsible wildlife watching around seals

    Scotland is well known for our diverse flora and fauna, both on land and in the sea. Some of the most iconic species seen around our coasts are seals. Scotland is home to around a third of the world population of grey seals and around 5% of the world population of harbour seals.

    19th September 2023

  • Where are the seals around the UK?

    Today, Marine Scotland published a new report in the Scottish Marine and Freshwater Science series on research commissioned from the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) to produce updated maps of grey and harbour seal distribution in UK waters. Using a combination of telemetry data from seal tags between 1991 and 2016, and haul out counts of…

    21st December 2017

  • Understanding how seals use the water column in tidally energetic areas

    As the tidal renewable industry continues to grow, increasing our understanding of the way that marine mammals use tidally energetic areas is of particular importance. This is a particular issue as there is increasing evidence that tidal energetic areas can be important foraging areas for marine mammals, therefore understanding how marine mammals use the water…

    30th November 2017

  • Fine-scale harbour seal usage mapping around Orkney

    Marine Scotland has published a report on research commissioned from the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) to produce fine scale usage maps for harbour seals. With a spatial resolution of 0.6km x 0.6km, these provide very fine scale detail about the areas that are important to harbour seals. While there are existing usage maps for…

    21st December 2016

  • Refining Estimates of Collision Risk for Harbour Seals and Tidal Turbines

    As the offshore marine renewables industry grows, understanding the way that marine mammals, interact with these are of particular importance. This is especially true of tidal devices, and one particular concern is the risk of collision between marine wildlife and rotating turbine blades below the sea surface. This is a particular issue for harbour seals…

    15th November 2016

  • How do seals interact with shipping vessels?

    As shipping activity continues to increase around the world, understanding the way that marine mammals interact with vessels is of particular importance. Such concerns generally relate to potential harmful effects of increased shipping noise on marine mammals and the potential for physical injury due to collisions. This is a particular issue for harbour seals (Phoca…

    17th October 2016

  • Results of a new diet study on seals around the Scottish coast

    Three new reports have been published looking at the diet of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) in Scottish waters. The work, commissioned by Marine Scotland, and undertaken by the Sea Mammal Research Unit at the University of St Andrews, involved collecting scats seasonally from haul-out sites around Scotland over a 12 month period in…

    21st September 2016

  • New method for estimating the risk of collision between harbour seals and tidal turbines

    As the offshore marine renewables industry grows, the way that marine mammals interact with these are of particular importance. This is especially true of tidal devices and one particular concern is the risk of collision between these animals and rotating turbine blades below the sea surface. A new report has been published, commissioned by Scottish Natural…

    9th June 2016

  • SNH Commissioned Report 894: Harbour seal haul-out monitoring

    Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has recently published a study which investigated the consequences of disturbance from boats to seals using haul outs. The work was carried out by the Sea Mammal Research Unit at the University of St Andrews and helps to inform our understanding of the effects of disturbance, particularly in relation to the 194 protected…

    9th November 2015

  • News from MSI: Seal Usage Maps Update

    A technical problem was found with the data in the seal usage maps in August 2013 and since then the maps have been unavailable through MSi. These maps have now been updated and the version that is available has had this error corrected. If you have previously downloaded the seal maps, please now update your…

    16th January 2014