What we do

Campaigns

SRT have been using their unique data set to inform government about the multiple issues that seals are facing out in the wild.

Grey seals face a wide range of impacts both from environmental and anthropogenic sources:

  • Bycatch and entanglement in operational and lost fishing gear;

  • Climate change impacts on seals: Warming seas affecting prey distribution; Extreme weather events inundating pupping beaches separating maternally dependent pups; Reducing fecundity following year; Groundswells increasing lost gear increasing entanglement rates; Groundswells disturbing pollutants and contaminants locked in the seabed; Ocean acidification; Toxic algal blooms (domoic acid); Rising sea levels flooding sea caves and haul outs; Increasing rates of coastal erosion with rockfalls injuring or killing seals; Heavy rain increasing disturbance.

  • Disturbance by increasing coastal human activity from land, sea and air;

  • Fish stocks being depleted, changing and shifting;

  • Habitat loss through coastal squeeze and increasing marine activity;

  • Persecution using variety of fatal and debilitating actions;

  • Pollution in the form of light and sound as well as physical (macro and micro) and chemical outflows ranging from industrial, agricultural, transportational and household activities including emerging issues such as pharmaceutical runoff (e.g. painkillers and hormones);

  • Marine carbon dioxide removal geoengineering projects.

Disturbance

The easiest of these issues to solve is that of human disturbance as this usually happens as a result of a lack of public awareness about how best to act around wild seals in their natural environment. This is completely understandable, so SRT’s main long term campaign has been to share key information and advice about how we can all help seals stay relaxed and happy in their natural environment. As part of SRT’s Disturbance Campaign, we:

  • Provide free talks, resources in the form of public signs, leaflets and stickers about what seals need from us around the UK coasts and beyond. These are shared at multiple public events run by partner organisations

  • Work with a range of different activity Governing Bodies to enable them to create their own resources from the free information we provide that can be shared in person or via multiple online forums

  • Partner with local landowners to help give them the advice and information needed to manage people at their sites around seals to minimise the impact we all have. This helps landowners to put up fencing, create paths and interpretation signage to raise visitor interest, awareness and knowledge about our incredible seals. We help landowners to recruit, train and support volunteers to engage with site visitors to enhance their experience of seeing seals in the wild, as well as appreciate all the other incredible nature at these sites

  • Support local marine conservation groups to explore and action at sea management schemes such as awareness raising buoys 100m away from sensitive seal sites

  • Share summary data about the disturbance our wild seals are experiencing throughout the year with statutory agencies to encourage them to better understand how serious this issue is. Ultimately we hope this will provide the evidence needed for them to take action to better protect our seals when they are most vulnerable on land

  • Write to statutory agencies and government representatives at all levels to ensure that when people do occasionally deliberately and knowingly disturbance seals then there is legal protection for them. SRT’s have been campaigning for a long time to get seals added to the Wildlife and Countryside Act Schedule 5 all Section 9 Offences. This was recommended by the Joint Nature Conservation Council in 2022 and by the EFRA Marine Mammal Inquiry in 2023. We have everything crossed that this will happen soon.

This juvenile seal has been spooked into tombstoning into the sea. She will likely swim off, but have broken rib bones as a result. These can never heal as a seal’s rib cage collapses under pressure when it dives, so this poor seal will likely die a slow and painful death from starvation.

Plastic debris

Another way of making our seas safer for seals is to reduce the amount of plastic debris floating around in our oceans. Over the years SRT has led on research to survey:

Lost fishing gear

Incredibly SRT completed 4 years of lost fishing gear surveys right around the SW coast. Not only did volunteers record lost fishing gear but they removed it too. Data on the type of lost gear, the amount, the level of risk it posed and the direct impacts of entanglement it was having on seals were all recorded and shared in annual reports which have been shared with multiple agencies to show the shocking and widespread impacts this debris has on multiple species from seals to seabirds, mussels and pink sea fans.

Flying rings

Over 34 different seals have been recorded around the UK caught up in flying ring toys. Once over a seal’s head, the ring gets pushed back by water resistance as the seal swims and when the seal elongates and stretches its neck to snatch prey, the ring gets tighter and tighter on its neck. Within just two weeks a flying ring can be so tight on a seal’s neck that it cannot be pulled off but rather has to be cut off with bolt cutters. SRT are not about stopping anyone having fund on their beaches so, along with the Seal Alliance, SRT have been asking people to switch from flying ring toys back to solid disc alternative, preferably plastic free ones. As part of this campaign, our incredible volunteers have been taking to retailers about switching to selling sold discs and writing to councillors asking them to vote for voluntary bans on their sale and use across the county of Cornwall. We were delighted when our wonderful Cornwall Councillors voted unanimously for a voluntary ban here.

Industrial rings

A new and emerging threat is appearing as our volunteers have begun recording seals in plastic rings from other sources that include gaskets, offshore wind installations and pain tin seals.

JD was recorded by an SRT volunteer caught up in a flying ring. SRT alerted BDMLR who thankfully were able to capture and immobilise his as they cut the ring away from his neck.

This is adult female Legs three weeks after getting a single strand of monofilament gill net caught around her neck back in 2019. Sadly SRT and BDMLR have not been able to rescue her and she is still alive with a hideous open wounds and lesions. Fingers crossed on day she will be in an inaccessible place to make her rescue possible.

Climate Change

Our long term data sets are vital for highlighting trends and changes in the way seals interact with their environment. Shifts began in 2016, when our peak haul out seasons shifted from March/April back to December/January. SRT used to record most pups born in October followed by November and since 2016, this has been September followed by August. As we think these changes are most likely linked to climate change, SRT have been working hard to help their volunteers, supporters and the public to minimise their carbon footprints to help seals and ultimately future generation of people on our planet. This this end, SRT have:

  • Designed and created a Sea Change: Seals leaflet to raise awareness about the stories seals are bringing about the state of our seas to us to on land

  • Filmed, edited and shared two versions of a short film called Sea Change: Seals – one for the public with a clear call to action about the small steps we can all take to reduce our carbon emissions. The second film was aimed at rehabilitation centres and funding bodies, explaining that because of increasing cumulative marine impacts, more seals that ever are getting into trouble and so increasing amounts of rescue and rehabilitation facilities will be needed in the future. Both these films can be found on SRT’s YouTube channel.

This was the first seal pup of the 2025 season, born on 10/03/25 so out of season. With no mother and no chance of rescue, our volunteers had the awful job of recording her suffering as she struggled for several days to survive. Will we are able to do in situations like this is to record her existence to alert policy decision makers to her plight as an indicator of the increasing effects of climate change on seals. Heartbreaking for us all.

Projects

We love working in partnership with other public, private and voluntary organisations to make the world a better place for seals. AI is the in thing, so we have two rather different project examples underway using AI:

  • Photo ID software to help our incredible Photo ID teams get even better at what they do – IDing even more seals and making more matches between catalogues. Thanks to partnerships with Seb East at Bristol University and Dan Schofield and Horace Lee in the University of Oxford’s Visual Geometry Department, SRT have AI tools that can snip seals from photos to save us processing time, counting tools to verify field counts and we are currently working to improve photo ID software, associated with a bespoke database

  • Underwater audio visual ‘Seal Spy’ passive recorders to capture underwater seal presence from their incredible vocalisations associated with video recordings of their activity and fur patterns. We are super excited to be partnering with the hugely talented and inspirational teams at Celtic Sea Power and Falmouth University to make this project possible. One day we hope that this amazing research kit can be deployed in grids across the renewable energy sector as it develops to enable non invasive ‘at sea’ density maps revealing key offshore foraging areas. 

  • Marine Geoengineering: SRT first heard about Planetary Technologies (PTs) Marine Geoengineering Project for St Ives Bay on 19/01/23. This is a Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) experiment could have set a global precedent for this industry. SRT began an ongoing dialogue with the licensing authority, the Environment Agency to ensure due diligence was done. SRT’s science advisory team for the project held 3 meetings with South West Water’s Chief Operating Officer whose infrastructure was being used. A pivotal point in this project took place on 15/03/24 when the Cornwall Carbon Scrutiny Group met with 8 of PT’s staff and other stakeholders to discuss the Baseline Survey Report PT had produced. During this recorded meeting PT’s Chief Scientist Will Burt agreed with our point, admitting this wasn’t really a baseline study nor did they have an appropriate control site and that it was actually too hard, too costly, in too challenging an environment to do a proper job! A real silver lining outcome from this project has been our collaboration with Dr Ian Hendy from Portsmouth University and David Jones from Just One Ocean who have planned, led and delivered baseline dive surveys across 4 transect sites in St Ives Bay in both 2024 and 2025 to assess both the habitat and species presence, water quality and eDNA thanks to funding from the Flotilla Foundation. In April 2025, SRT discovered that PT has pulled the plug on this Geoengineering project in Cornwall for good, confirming what we already knew…that their science did not stand up to external scrutiny. SRT are funded by the Flotilla Foundation to continue with these volunteer dive surveys of St Ives Bay annually to build up a vital data set to help inform and mitigate any future developments plans for the bay.

The beautiful St Ives Bay underwater habitats and species surveyed by SRT’s voluntary divers

Consultations

SRT collect seal data to inform conservation efforts. Knowledge gained from our routine surveys is collated and used to submit evidence and comments to relevant public and private consultations run by statutory agencies and other organisations on policy, developments, issues, coastal/offshore activities and nature conservation. Writing consultation submissions is the most challenging and most mundane aspect of our charity’s work but it is undoubtedly the most important thing we do. It means all the data and expertise stored in our scientific database, created by our huge volunteer team effort, is communicated to decision makers where its influence counts, helping to give seals and the marine environment a voice to make a difference in planning and policy at a national and international decision making level. All this is done monthly, during or between our monthly Steering Group Meetings. SRT are members of Wildlife and Countryside LINK (WCL), providing seal expertise to the Marine Mammal, Marine and Bycatch Groups and inputting to multiple other working groups on an ongoing basis. On average, SRT submit one consultation a week to influence policy and planning decisions.

Resources

SRT’s key mission is to give seals a voice and to help other people and organisations to do the same. As a result, SRT aim to provide everyone with free access to information, by providing a wide range of resources including free:

  • Talks Online and face to face

  • Films

  • Posters

  • Leaflets

  • Flyers

  • Metal signs (Email seals@sealresearchtrust.com for details)

  • Flashcards

  • Stickers

  • Reference reports

  • Policies

  • Responses to conservation issues

  • Copyright free photos of seals following best practice

  • Family activities

  • Bespoke advice on a range of topics

To book a free online or face to face talk from one of SRT’s amazing and hugely experienced volunteer speakers, please email events@sealresearchtrust.com with possible dates and time and any topic ideas.

  • This talk is aimed at sharing observations of natural wild seal behaviour gathered over two decades. If we begin to imagine what it might be like to be a seal, we can better appreciate what seals need from us. Beautifully illustrated and with video content, discover the links seals make between sea and land, their main behavioural drivers, and how their/our world is changing. We end with an optimistic ‘plan for the future’ to ensure this wild marine heritage species thrives, giving future generations something to smile about.

  • This talk is aimed at sharing the key things we have learned from observations of natural wild seal behaviour gathered over two decades. If we begin to imagine what it might be like to be a seal, we can better appreciate what seals need from us. Beautifully illustrated with real seal stories and video content, you’ll discover the links seals make between sea and land featuring their main behavioural drivers. We cover all the key impacts we are having on seals and how their world is changing. Evidence about entanglement, disturbance and climate change are presented along with the conservation actions undertaken to mitigate these. We end with an optimistic plan of how you can help to ensure this wild marine heritage species thrives for future generations to smile about as well. Signposts for more information for those that want it are also provided.

  • 7 seal stories about celebrity seals and 7 their amazing abilities. Learn about ‘bananaing’ seals, seal senses, why crying is good, reflexes, dive adaptations, pup growth and annual moult. Finally learn 7 ways you can help seals.

  • Whilst grey seal pups are superbly adapted to life in the sea, with mortality rates of between 40 - 75%, their first few months can be tough, as they learn to fend for themselves. Explore the world (made possible by big camera lenses) of local mums and pups and witness their amazing transformation. Discover incredible facts about seal pups during their first year of life. This multimedia talk is fully illustrated with photos and videos of seals in Cornwall.

  • Amongst marine mammals, seals are most vulnerable, given their terrestrial and marine habitat needs. As a result, they are exposed to multiple impacts, making them useful sentinels alerting us to the state of our seas. Existing issues include Prey availability, Habitat loss, Pollution, Bycatch and Entanglement, Disturbance. Consumerism, Climate change, Marine development and Coastal squeeze are driving a multitude of new issues for marine life including Microplastics, Harmful algal blooms, Toxins, Pathogens, Pharmaceutical runoff and spatial/temporal shifts in habitat. Seals have been highly adaptive, but how many adaptation options do they have left?

  • At 2.4 metres, Septimus was the third-longest dead seal ever washed-up dead in Cornwall! As a real seal skeleton with a life, death, decomposition and articulation story, Septimus is a world-unique resource with an amazing, shocking and chilling story to tell about the plight of our globally rare grey seals. He survived, despite everything we and nature threw at him. Ongoing investigations and developments are taking place across the world and ironically Septimus’ story has taken on a life of its own.

  • With a life time of experience from her first career (as a lead learner, aka teacher), and her second career as a marine conservationist, Sue has a learned a lot about how to work effectively from getting that much desired new role, communicating to be understood, working well with others, managing networks and progressing conservation. Discover her insights into how to make your best difference.

  • As human activity around our spectacular coast increases, marine life is getting pushed into ever smaller areas of habitat. To enable marine life to continue using their remaining sensitive sites, we have to manage ourselves around them. Being marine and terrestrial in nature, seals are a particularly vulnerable species spotlighting issues. Whilst vital for the public to be able to see and enjoy wild seals, we need to do everything we possibly can to manage these opportunities to get the best out of wild experiences for both people and seals. Learn how this starts with a philosophy, emotional connections, role modelling and resources – physical management in the field is a last resort.

  • It is wonderful that statutory agencies have learned to work with citizen science networks to gather vital and affordable data needed to inform critical decisions. As a highly successful regional citizen science charity working nationally and internationally, the Seal Research Trust have lots of top tips, strategies and advice about setting up, running and most importantly sustaining such networks over the long term to achieve the greatest benefits. We all need to work smarter and learn from each other’s experience to maximise our outputs for nature.

Resources