As more seals are being seen on Yorkshire Coast beaches a new guide to watching them safely has been published.
The new 'Watching Seals Well' guide has been produced by the Seal Alliance, a coalition of seal conservation groups which includes the Yorkshire Seal Group and the British Divers Marine Life Rescue Group who have marine life medics based on the Yorkshire Coast.
The guide aims to help people to get the best experience observing seals in their natural habitat while preventing disturbance as much as possible.
The Alliance say that the disturbance of seals at their 'haul out sites' puts the creatures under enormous stress.
The disturbance is typically from from people, dogs, boats, kayaks etc approaching to closely and noisily, and experts say it's one of the biggest threats seals face in this country, with many places experiencing chronic, repeated incidents multiple times per day or hour.
The experts say this is causing cumulative levels of stress and wasted energy for the seals, but also causes injuries and potentially separates pups from their mums as seals stampede into the sea for safety, which sadly sometimes results in them needing to be rescued.
Sally Bunce is the Whitby Medics for the British Divers Marine Life Rescue Service. Sally says seal disturbance is a growing problem.
The new leaflet, which can double as a poster, is being distributed around the country to be displayed in strategic locations to help raise awareness of the issues with consistent shared messages from groups in the Seal Alliance, and also endorsed by the Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The full PDF version of the guide can be downloaded here Watching Seals Well PDF
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