Disturbance 2008

The calm seas and gorgeous weather at the weekend encouraged us out to enjoy our beautiful coastline. Some people took to the water in a wide range of leisure craft, others took to the air, making this an interesting time to study seal disturbance at the offshore haul out. In the space of 3 hours, there were 5 potential sources of disturbance for the seals - 4 from the water and 1 from the air, but not all of these resulted in disturbing the seals back into the sea.

The first seal to haul out was a mature female, S16 'Rabbit f', who settled on the rear left ledges as the tide had not yet receded enough to reveal the front left ledges. She had been there around 20 minutes, when she was approached by a surf canoer, who spooked her into the sea, leaving no seals hauled out. There were, however, a small number of seals hanging around in the sea, apparently waiting for their preferred front left ledges to be revealed as the tide went out. They had just begun making tentative attempts to haul out, when they were approached by two long boarders paddling over to the haul out. The longer boarders got out of the water and walked around the offshore haul out before sitting down to admire the view. By the time the next source of disturbance arrived, S16 was back out sunning herself on the front left ledges and she had been joined by 3 other female seals.

Disturbance source 1 : S16 scared off rear ledges (Left) : Disturbance source 2 : Helicopter didn't disturb any seals (Right)

The long boarders had been trespassing, so when a helicopter approached, they began to head for their boards. Amazingly, the close proximity of a very loud helicopter landing around 100m from the seals did not disturb them into the sea! We can only assume this is because the seals are used to a lot of helicopter activity by their haul out and were familiar with the sight and sound. Equally, the helicopter did not get very close to the seals, or approach them directly. In stark contrast, the 2 long boarders who were now leaving the island, disturbed all of the hauled seals back into the sea, except a very determined S16. Perhaps the seals were disturbed because the long boarders came within 20 metres of them? The seals may also have been disturbed by the long boarders if they had been talking to each other - human voices do appear to 'spook' seals when they are on the mainland haul out site. Why 3 seals were scared into the sea, but not S16 is unclear. S16 has visited this site since September 2001. 43 of the 57 times she has been seen since, have been on this offshore haul out and of these she has been hauled out on these front left ledges 18 times. Perhaps her familiarity with this part of the offshore haul out has made her feel more confident and able to remain hauled out despite the proximity of the long surf boards. In contrast, she has only been observed 8 times on the rear ledges from which she was disturbed originally.

Disturbance source 3 scares 3 seals off ledges apart from S16 (Left) : Disturbance source 4, S16 sits tight (Right)

Whatever made S16 feel confident to remain hauled out, saw her hold out during disturbance source 4 - a single ocean kayaker. Perhaps it was the lack of voices, or the fact that the kayaker kept slightly further away? There is no doubt, S16 was agitated by his presence and she kept her eye on the kayak until he was a safe distance away, but she remained haul out determinedly!

Disturbance source 5, no disturbance (Left) : S16 - mature female feels confident, as a regular at this site (Right)

The final potential source of disturbance arrived shortly afterwards in the form of a double kayak. This time, the kayakers followed the Voluntary Marine Code of Conduct and kept at least 100 metres away from S16 and were an exemplar of good practice!

If you go out on the sea in any form of leisure craft, please follow the advice on the Voluntary Marine Code of Conduct:-

KEEP your distance - over 100m from the animals
NEVER drive head on, or move between, scatter or separate marine animals
PLEASE spend no longer than 15 minutes near the animals
AVOID groups with mothers and young
MAINTAIN a steady direction and no wake speed.
NEVER dispose of any rubbish or contaminants into the sea
NEVER swim with marine animals for your safety & theirs.
NEVER attempt to feed any marine creature. They are wild animals.

Being disturbed into the sea might not seem significant to you, but to the seals it is. The seals haul out to digest their food (with the plentiful amount of oxygen available at the haul out) so hauling out is an essential part of their routine. If they don't get a chance to settle and relax, their food is inefficiently digested (reducing their energy) and they are using more energy to haul out repeatedly, so their energy budget can be seriously affected. Disturbance at the onshore and offshore seal haul outs continues to increase - from 15% in 2005/6 to 18% in 2006/7 and 20% in 2007/8. Please help us to reverse this trend, by spreading the word about the Marine Code of Conduct and encouraging all your friends to follow it. Resisting the temptation to get too close now, will mean we all get to see the seals for longer!

The more we get to see the seals, the more we are able to learn about them (and tell you about them!) For example, one particularly exciting sighting on Saturday, was S13 'Double T'. First sighted in December 2000 at around the age of 2, a classic mature female with beautiful 'spotty' markings, S13 is always a pleasure to see. Since becoming a 'grown up' seal, S13 visits us a lot less frequently (being seen only 7 times in the last 5 years) and in fewer months of the year (June and August being her favourite months to visit.)

Quick glimpses of S13 at sea at the weekend. She is now around 10 or 11 years old (below)

Compare the photos above from her recent visit with the ones below from her identification catalogue.

Photo ID catalogue images of S13 (Below), who was around 2 years old, when she was first seen in December 2000