Thousands of seals counted in Thames Estuary ‘shows habitat is still healthy’

Almost 3,600 seals person been counted successful the Thames Estuary showing the situation is inactive healthy, conservationists said.

The squad counted the fig of mammals laying retired connected sandbanks and estimated however galore whitethorn beryllium successful the water, concluding a full of 599 harbour seals and 2,988 grey seals surviving successful the Thames Estuary.

Hannah McCormick, the ZSL conservationist who led the survey, said the numbers assistance to overgarment a representation of however these 2 apex predator taxon are faring and what that means for the wider habitat.

She said: “A flourishing ecosystem has capable food, structure and abstraction for each of its inhabitants, and though we inactive person a mode to spell successful presumption of improving the wellness of this important habitat, arsenic apical predators, this seal colonisation shows america that determination is bully situation disposable to the taxon that telephone the Thames home.”

Ms McCormick said issues similar integrative and sewage contamination inactive airs a menace to wildlife successful the area.

“Pollution coming into our rivers and into our estuaries and into the water are conscionable going to person a immense knock-on effect for everything surviving there,” she said.

She urged members of the nationalist not to litter and to proceed to enactment unit connected decision-makers to tackle contamination and discharge.

“Everything that lives present is an statement for reducing that arsenic overmuch arsenic we perchance can,” she said.

“It is captious that the wellness and betterment of our waterways is simply a cardinal authorities priority.”  

Over the past 2 decades, UK seal numbers person recovered aft the distemper microorganism decimated the colonisation successful the aboriginal 2000s.

ZSL said this year’s survey was accordant with the beardown results from the past fewer surveys, with 692 harbour seals and 3,134 grey seals being estimated successful the past number successful 2021.

But results since 2018 besides suggest determination has been a diminution successful harbour seals, a inclination which has been seen successful different seal colonies successful the eastbound of England.

“While the causes of these declines stay unknown, experts are investigating imaginable factors and by keeping a adjacent oculus connected these changes; we volition proceed to physique our cognition of seals successful the Thames portion contributing to semipermanent determination and nationalist information connected seals,” Ms McCormick said.  

As portion of the survey, the squad observed seals from boats on the estuary but besides joined grooming flights with RAF Shawbury’s No 1 Flying Training School to screen the coastline betwixt Suffolk and Kent.

The number took spot successful the archetypal 2 weeks of August during moulting play for the harbour seals, erstwhile they walk overmuch of their time basking connected sandbanks.

The RAF was besides capable to signifier utilizing infrared cameras, which tin observe vigor from force troops and engines, to spot signs of seals earlier the squad utilized long-range lens cameras to corroborate the idiosyncratic seals.

One of the pilots, Major Karl Cooper said the RAF was “very arrogant and happy” to beryllium capable to assistance with the seal count.

“We’ve been capable to make halfway skills successful regards to moving successful antithetic areas, antithetic airspace, and past the niche skills of utilizing the camera.”

He added that portion a batch of grooming is “for training’s sake”, connected this juncture they felt they were besides making a difference.

“To bash this and really person an interaction portion having the grooming payment was a beauteous usage of our clip and aircraft,” helium said.

The accusation gathered by the survey volition yet provender into St Andrew’s Sea Mammal Research Unit’s database moving to recognize the presumption of seals crossed the UK.   A ZSL-led study antecedently revealed that though declared “biologically dead” successful the 1970s, conservation efforts person led to the Thames erstwhile again becoming location to a wide assortment of British wildlife including seals, the short-snouted seahorse, the critically endangered European eel arsenic good arsenic oversea writer and brackish marsh.   The nationalist tin enactment ongoing enactment by reporting unrecorded sightings to the Thames Marine Mammal Survey, avoiding disturbing seals connected onshore oregon successful the water, and reporting dormant seal sightings to the ZSL-led Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme.