Seal population doing well in Thames Estuary

After years of culling for meat and fur, seal populations in the Thames Estuary are returning to their natural levels. Both Harbour and Grey seals are improving in the area with 938 seals counted in 2014. According to the recent study published by researches from the Zoological Society of London, Thames Estuary seals are the least understood population in the UK.

As well as the increase in numbers of individuals researchers are seeing more pupping areas, although these are still mostly in Suffolk, Norfolk, and the Wash rather than in the Thames Estuary itself. The researchers have noticed declines in Scottish populations of harbour seals over the last 5 years and are therefore keen to keep an eye on the Thames Estuary population which is doing very well. They will also look out for competition between the species for food and resting spots.

There are a number of offshore windfarms in the Thames Estuary and satellite-tagging research published earlier this year showed harbour seals taking advantage of the turbines to feed on fish that had sheltered among the foundations.

Sources: Guardian online Sep 2014