scholarly journals The Grey Seals of the Farne Islands

Oryx ◽  
1959 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Hickling ◽  
E. A. R. Ennion
Keyword(s):  
Total Population ◽  
Nature Reserve ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
British Isles ◽  
The North

The Atlantic Grey Seal, Halichoerus grypus, is one of the world's rarer mammals. In 1954 R. M. Lockley estimated its total population as 33,500 and there is no reason to suppose there has since been an increase. About 20,000 of these seals live in colonies around the coasts of the British Isles, all on the north and west, except for one colony which inhabits the Fame Islands, a National Trust nature reserve off the Northumberland coast.

scholarly journals Status of grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) in Norway

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjell Tormod Nilssen ◽  
Tore Haug
Keyword(s):  
Total Population ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Population Estimates ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
Breeding Area ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
Norwegian Coast ◽  
The North ◽  
Minimum Estimate ◽  
Pup Mortality

During the period September-December in 2001-2003, ship based surveys of grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) pups, including tagging, counting and staging of pups, were conducted along the Norwegian coast. All known and other potential breeding areas were surveyed from Rogaland county in the south to Finnmark county in the north. Most of the breeding sites were surveyed only once, but some sites were surveyed 2-4 times. The investigations resulted in a total minimum estimate of 1,159 grey seal pups born in Norwegian waters. Nordland county was the most important breeding area where about 50% of the pups were born. Total population estimates were derived from the recorded number of pups born using a range of multipliers (4.0-4.7), based on observed annual growth rates of approximately 7-12% in other grey seal populations. This gave a total estimate of about 5,800-6,600 grey seals including pups in Norwegian waters. However, the total pup production was probably underestimated due to only one pup count in most of the breeding sites. Observed mean pup mortality was 1.1% during the breeding season along the Norwegian coast.

Seals in Orkney

1985 ◽  
Vol 87 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 95-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernie McConnell
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
Total Population Size ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Domestic Use

SynopsisGrey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and common seals (Phoca vitulina) both occur in Orcadian waters. In previous centuries they formed an important resource for both domestic use and export.Annual grey seal pup production has more than doubled since 1964. Productivity on individual islands is influenced by human activity. Total population size is estimated to have risen from around 10,000 in 1964 to around 20,000 in 1982 despite a management policy of culling originally intended to stop population growth. Grey seals tagged in Orkney have been recovered around most parts of the North Sea, Norway, the Faeroes and south to Ireland.Considerably less is known about the biology of common seals in Orkney. A boat survey in 1979 counted 2653 adults and 420 pups.

scholarly journals A Short Investigation into the Habits, Abundance, and Species of Seals on the North Cornwall Coast

1934 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Steven
Keyword(s):  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
The North ◽  
Single Night ◽  
Considerable Size

1. In the course of three trips to the herring grounds in the vicinity of St. Ives five seals were sighted. Seven others were also seen at various other times and places in the course of five days spent in that locality.2. During a single night at sea in Port Isaac Bay eight seals were sighted.3. It was obvious from the movements of certain of the seals observed on the fishing grounds that they were attracted to the herring nets.4. Direct evidence that the seals actually remove fish from the nets was not obtained.5. Damage done to drift nets by seals is negligible.6. Grey Seals (Halichœrus grypus) are present in considerable numbers, and are probably the commonest seals in Cornish waters.7. Brown Seals (Phoca vitulina) appear to be few—they may even be rare—around Cornwall.8. There is at least one seal colony of considerable size in certain caves near Boscastle. This appears to consist of Grey Seals. Probably other such colonies exist on the Cornish coast.9. Clupeoid remains have been found in two out of the three Grey Seal stomachs which have been examined.10. Further and more exact knowledge of the habits and relative abundance of Grey and Brown Seals around the Cornish coast is desirable.

Cannibalism by a Male Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) in the North Sea

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda M. Bishop ◽  
Joseph Onoufriou ◽  
Simon Moss ◽  
Paddy P. Pomeroy ◽  
Sean D. Twiss
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

scholarly journals The status of grey seals in Britain

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
C D Duck ◽  
D Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Total Population ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
The North ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
Seal Population ◽  
The Status ◽  
Outer Hebrides ◽  
Likelihood Model ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
The Uk

Grey seal pup production in Scotland was estimated through annual aerial surveys of the main grey seal breeding colonies. Between 3 and 7 counts of pups were obtained for each colony at intervals through the course of the breeding season. Pup production for individual colonies was estimated from the series of counts using a maximum likelihood model. At 3 colonies, 2 in England, annual pup production was estimated using ground counts. Between the early 1960s and the early 1990s, grey seal pup production progressively increased. At colonies in the Inner and Outer Hebrides, production appeared to stabilize during the 1990s and has remained so. Pup production at colonies in Orkney and in the North Sea has continued to increase but in recent years the rate of increase has declined. This may imply that the UK grey seal population is reaching some limit to its size. The observed changes in pup production imply that some density dependent factors are affecting the British grey seal population. Changes in either juvenile survival and/or female fecundity are the most likely options. Without knowing which of these, or what combination of these factors, is operating, estimating total population size is complicated.

The seals of the Forth, Scotland

1987 ◽  
Vol 93 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 535-543
Author(s):  
J. Harwood ◽  
O. Geraldine Wyile
Keyword(s):  
Abundant Species ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
North Shore ◽  
The North ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
If Current ◽  
Firth Of Forth ◽  
Habitat Damage

SynopsisAlthough common seals (Phoca vitulina L.) do occur in the Firth of Forth, the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus Fab.) is by far the most abundant species in the area. Some pups are born along the north shore of the outer firth but the vast majority are born on the Isle of May. This colony has increased in size from less than twenty-five pups in 1975 to more than 900 in 1986. Studies using conventional and radio tags indicate that many of the seals at the Isle of May originally came from the colony at the Farne Islands, off the Northumberland coast. Information from the Fame Islands population is used to predict future changes at the Isle of May. If current trends continue, more than 2000 pups could be born each year by the end of the century. However, it seems unlikely that this will occur. Management methods for controlling habitat damage are discussed.

The breeding and distribution of the grey seal ( Halichoerus grypus Fab.) in the Baltic Sea, with observations on other seals of the area

1972 ◽  
Vol 182 (1066) ◽  
pp. 37-58 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
Last Deglaciation ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
The North ◽  
Ice Coverage ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The Baltic

The grey seal ( Halichoerus grypus Fab.) is considered to be one of the rarest species of the seals. The area of greatest abundance is centred around the coasts of the British Isles where the species has been established for a considerable period. The Grey Seals Acts of 1914 and 1932 gave protection to the species in British waters during the breeding months of September to December. But this seal also occurs in other countries in the North Atlantic, notably in Eastern Canada, often on ice (figures 12, 13, plate 4), Iceland, the Faroes, Norway, the Kola peninsular and the Baltic Sea. The total population is estimated (Smith 1966) to be ca . 52500. Since the last deglaciation considerable changes have occurred in the Baltic region, but at the present time in this tideless sea – which embraces the Gulfs of Bothnia, Finland and Riga, and in waters of a salinity as low as 3.75 ‰, of an area of 400000 km 2 – the grey seal breeds in March on ice, as does the ringed seal in the same month and also on ice, though the common seal breeds in June on sandbanks or rocks. Within the area is a valuable and productive fishery and an inevitable conflict has for long existed between man and the seals, both predators of economically valuable fish, e. g. herring, cod, eel, salmon and other species, leading to the imposition of bounty payments for seals killed. Over the years very large numbers of grey and ringed seals have been killed, chiefly by fishermen in Sweden and Finland, to obtain bounties from the authorities. Unlike the planned culling and undertaken in some British colonies, the Baltic killings have been made at random and little is known of its effect upon the survival of the species. In the Baltic it is not possible to undertake counts of seals owing to the scattered nature of their breeding and the unpredictability of the winter ice coverage.

scholarly journals Grey seals on the Murman coast, Russia: status and present knowledge

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergej V Ziryanov ◽  
Vasily L Mishin
Keyword(s):  
Nature Reserve ◽  
White Sea ◽  
Present Knowledge ◽  
Seasonal Distribution ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
The White Sea ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
Murmansk Region ◽  
Pup Mortality

Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) are distributed along the entire northern Murman coast in Russia. Breeding sites are located mainly on the Ainov and Seven islands, which belong to the Kandalaksha Nature Reserve. The annual pup production was estimated to be around 800 pups in the early 1990s, and the pup mortality has been observed to be relatively high. The population was estimated to be approximately 3,500 individuals in 1994. Grey seals migrate in small numbers into the White Sea during summer. The grey seal is protected and registered in the Red Books of Russia, Murmansk region and Fennoscandia. The main results of grey seals investigations from 1986 to 2000 are briefly reviewed. There are no recent studies on abundance, seasonal distribution, growth, moulting and feeding of the species.

scholarly journals Identification and real-time PCR quantification of Phocine distemper virus from two colonies of Scottish grey seals in 2002

2005 ◽  
Vol 86 (9) ◽  
pp. 2563-2567 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Hammond ◽  
Patrick P. Pomeroy ◽  
Ailsa J. Hall ◽  
Valerie J. Smith
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Phoca Vitulina ◽  
Primary Site ◽  
Halichoerus Grypus ◽  
Grey Seal ◽  
Acute Effects ◽  
The North ◽  
Phocine Distemper Virus ◽  
The North Sea

The North Sea European harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) population has endured two phocine distemper virus (PDV) epidemics in 1988 and 2002. The grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) is a sympatric seal species that shows little or no mortality from PDV. Two Scottish grey seal breeding colonies were sampled for evidence of PDV infection approximately 2 months after the peak of the 2002 epidemic. In both colonies, a proportion of mothers (13/109) and pups (6/84) tested positive for PDV in their leukocytes. All infected animals were asymptomatic and completed the breeding season successfully. These results illustrate that grey seals come into contact with infectious seals and can become infected themselves without experiencing acute effects. In some seals the virus is able to replicate from the primary site of infection. This study provides evidence that grey seals may have an active role in the spread of PDV during an epidemic.

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