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  • Seal Spotting in Looe

Seals

looe marine conservation

Grey seals are one of the rarest seal species in the world…  Did you know that there are more African elephants in the world than grey seals! The UK has around 45% of the world’s population, so we tend to take them for granted, but we have a moral and legal obligation to protect them on behalf of the rest of the world. In 2008, there were around the same number of grey seals in the UK as red squirrels!

Most grey seals are found in Scotland, but they occur all around the English and Welsh coasts, from the Farne Islands in the north east, Donna Nook in Lincolnshire, all around the SW coast, on the Isles of Scilly and all along the west and north coasts of Wales. Seals in Cornwall are part of a Celtic Sea population, spanning five nations; France, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Eire.

Cornwall’s seals haul out all year round, on more coastal sites in the Winter months and Spring when the seals are breeding a moulting and on more offshore rocky islands during the Summer, their offshore foraging season.

Seal Paul Naylor

In the last century, seals were hunted and culled, but their numbers are always going to be limited by their prey species. In Cornwall, the population appears to be stable. Despite this, seals around our shores are facing an ever increasing list of threats, such as prey depletion, disturbance on haul outs, entanglement in nets, shooting and killing, coastal developments, habitat marginalisation, extreme weather events, rising sea levels, marine litter, underwater noise, chemicals including oil and natural predation.

Seal Surveys

Seal watching Looe

Each seal has a unique fur pattern from which it can be identified. Cornwall Seal Group have been building up a catalogue of seal images since 2000 and so far 76 seals have been identified in St Ives Bay and at 22 other sites, from as far away as Skomer in Pembrokeshire, Morte Point in north Devon, The Isles of Scilly and Looe in SE Cornwall. There seems to be a seasonal element to their movements around our coasts.

To become a volunteer & take part in the Looe Marine Conservation Group’s monthly seal survey on Looe Island, please contact us.

What's On?

Love Your Beach Day
Love Your Beach Day Clean at Seaton
Jan 02, 2023
Rock Pool Ramble
February Half Term Rockpool Ramble
Jan 02, 2023
Atlantic Puffin
Talk & Meeting: Wildlife of Our Coast & Estuaries by Adrian Langdon, Photographer
Jan 02, 2023
Marine Wildlife by Paul Naylor
Talk & AGM: More Intrigue in Our Seas: The Continuing Mysteries Posed by Our Marine Life by Paul Naylor, Marine Biologist
Jan 02, 2023
Easter Rock Pool Ramble
Easter Rockpool Ramble
Jan 02, 2023

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Recent Posts

Love Your Beach Day
Love Your Beach Day Clean at Seaton
Jan 02, 2023
Rock Pool Ramble
February Half Term Rockpool Ramble
Jan 02, 2023
Atlantic Puffin
Talk & Meeting: Wildlife of Our Coast & Estuaries by Adrian Langdon, Photographer
Jan 02, 2023

Related Links

Cornwall Wildlife Trust
Cornwall Seal Group
Marine Conservation Society
Marine Biological Association
Shark Trust
Looe Tourist Information Centre
Looe Valley Railway Line
iLoveLooe - Local website
Coastguard
RNLI

For more links to useful information, visit our Related Links page.

What's On?

Love Your Beach Day
Love Your Beach Day Clean at Seaton
Jan 02, 2023
Rock Pool Ramble
February Half Term Rockpool Ramble
Jan 02, 2023
Atlantic Puffin
Talk & Meeting: Wildlife of Our Coast & Estuaries by Adrian Langdon, Photographer
Jan 02, 2023

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