Coastal seal numbers showing huge increase

Harbour seal numbers around Scotland’s coast have boomed over the last five years following years of decline, according to survey results.

But Scottish Natural Heritage say the latest counts continue to show a clear east-west divide in fortunes for the protected species.

Between 2011 and 2015 a total of 25,399 harbour seals were counted on surveys around Scotland’s coast. This is significantly higher than the 20,430 counted in the previous roundScotland survey, but still fewer than the total of 29,514 in the survey before that.

Scotland-wide seal surveys are carried out over an approximate five-year cycle.

Over the last 15 years the surveys have shown a big drop in the numbers of harbour seals counted on the east of Scotland, particularly in Orkney and in the Firth of Tay and Eden Estuary.