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Significant decline among seals on Scotland's west coast

SMRU Two harbour seals sitting next to each other on a spot of land SMRU
A number of theories have been suggested regarding the decline in population

Scotland's west coast harbour seal numbers have dropped significantly  for the first time in decades.

The population fell by 20% between 2018 and 2023, in a region long considered the last stronghold for the marine mammal in the UK.

Conservation experts said the findings - carried out by the University of St Andrews - should serve as "a real wake-up call".

Harbour seals have experienced long-term decline across much of the UK since the early 2000s with the exception of the west coast of Scotland, where numbers held steady in the likes of the Inner Hebrides and the western Highlands.

SMRU Two harbour seals lying on land looking at each otherSMRU
The population dropped by 20% over a five year period, in an area considered a refuge for the species

The research was carried out by the university's Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU), which has monitored seal populations since the 1980s through aerial surveys, photo-ID, and tagging studies.

Dr Debbie Russell, lead seal ecologist and deputy director of the SMRU, said the figures marked a "concerning turning point" regarding the species survival in UK waters.

She added: "This is a real wake-up call. For years, we've viewed the west coast as a refuge for harbour seals, a place where they seemed to be doing okay.

"To now see declines in this region suggests that the pressures affecting these animals are becoming more widespread or severe."

The west coast of Scotland holds around 65% of the UK's entire harbour seal population.

Research is ongoing regarding reasons for the population decline, with possibilities including disease outbreak, environmental changes and reduced availability of prey.

Harbour seals and their more elusive cousins - grey seals - are both native to Scotland, but greys are bigger and more powerful creatures.

That has lead to some suggestions that the larger mammals are forcing harbour seals from their traditional areas and onto public beaches, where they are at risk.

Dr Carol Sparling, the director of SMRU, said there needed to be a quick response to the university's findings and called for targeted conservation measures.