From 2021 to 2025 the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) carried out surveys of Scotland’s Harbour Seals which included data on Grey Seals too. The results are very concerning.
The latest total counts for the whole of Scotland suggest that both harbour seal and grey seal numbers have declined since the last census in 2016-2019.
During the most recent August surveys carried out in 2021-2025, 19,978 harbour seals and 16,042 grey seals were counted in Scotland. These are the lowest nation-wide totals ever recorded for both species since the first census in 1996/1997.
Harbour Seals (also known as Common Seals) are smaller than the Grey Seal and have a shorter head with a blunter, more dog-like profile. They are protected in Britain under the Conservation of Seals Act, 1970, and classified as a Priority Species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Also protected under the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order, 1985.
Grey Seals are larger and have a longer head with a sloping ‘roman nose’ profile. Looking straight on, their nostrils are parallel, rather than v-shaped as in common seals. They are also protected in Britain under the Conservation of Seals Act 1970. Also protected under the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 and the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.
Faray – Windfarm Developments
One of the places where the Grey Seals pup is the small uninhabited island of Faray – but it is also where Orkney Islands Council proposes to build one of several windfarms. The Faray windfarm project consists of six wind turbines that are 149 metres height from ground to blade tip with a 28.8MW capacity. A great deal of infrastructure is required for this project including a new improved jetty, roads, and subsea cabling, etc.
In 2025, Nature Scot published ‘Conservation and Management Advice – Faray and Holm of Faray.’
Faray and Holm of Faray SAC [Special Area for Conservation] has been designated for grey seals. By doing so, it contributes to the Scottish, UK and OSPAR MPA networks, the conservation of the wider marine environment around Scotland, and progress towards Good Environmental Status within the UK. The main purpose of the Faray and Holm of Faray SAC is to contribute to the favourable condition status of grey seals in the UK.
The Advice records three spots favoured by the Grey Seals for hauling out: Ware Geo and Scammalin Bay on the southeast of Faray; Geo of Lackguoy and Sheepright Geo on the west coast of Faray; and the whole of the Holm of Faray).
In 2024 it was recorded that the status of the Grey Seals in Faray and Holm of Faray was ‘Unfavourable/Declining’.
The unfavourable condition of grey seal at Faray and Holm of Faray SAC corresponds to a 43% decline in pup production in 2019 since the late 1990s with the SAC now accounting for 10% of the Seal Management Unit (SMU) production (SCOS, 2022). The decrease in pup production does not reflect the trend of the North Coast and Orkney SMU with both grey seal population and pup production remaining stable (SCOS, 2022).
And it goes on to say , “the focus of the Conservation Objectives for grey seal are ensuring that the conditions on site are suitable to support a recovery.”
The reporter appointed by the Scottish Government to consider the case for the Faray Wind Farm was Mr Michael Shiel MA(Cantab) Bphil. His recommendation was that planning permission be refused.
Of the Grey Seal population the report stated that the windfarm and all the infrastructure construction required will ‘have a significant effect on the grey seal qualifying population of the SAC’.
The latest Orkney grey seal count is ~60-70% lower than the previous seven counts obtained over the last 20 years
The Seal Monitoring Unit’s Data for Grey Seals in Orkney.
| 1996-1997 | 2000-2006 | 2007-2009 | 2011-2015 | 2016-2019 | 2021-2025 | Latest % of Sco total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8,830 | 9,579 | 8,021 | 7,840 | 8,185 | 2,990 | 18.6% |
August counts of grey seals are highly variable but give an indication of distribution and trends during the main foraging season. Grey seal breeding and summer abundance increased in the 1980s and 1990s as populations recovered from persecution. Following the highest Scotland-wide total recorded in August 2016-2019, the 2021-2025 count is the lowest total ever recorded (37% lower).
It should also be noted that the number of grey seal pups estimated to have been born in Orkney in 2022 was 10-15% lower than the four previous estimates from surveys carried out through the 2010s (Morris et al., 2024).
The Orkney total in 2025 was over 90% lower than the highest count recorded in 1997. In large parts of southern Orkney the latest count was 99% lower (16 compared to 1,604). A similar drop in numbers of ~98% was recorded in the Sanday SAC in northeastern Orkney (32 compared to 1,458 over the same period)
The Seal Monitoring Unit’s Data for Harbour Seals in Orkney.
| 1996-1997 | 2000-2006 | 2007-2009 | 2011-2015 | 2016-2019 | 2021-2025 | Latest % of Sco total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8,522 | 4,238 | 2,867 | 1,865 | 1,296 | 734 | 3.7% |
The decline in Harbour Seals ” appears to be ongoing across all/most areas of Orkney.”
Scotland, Grey and Harbour Seals.
Pie charts showing the proportion of harbour seals and grey seals counted in each SMU during August, for all six censuses. The sizes of the pie charts reflect the total number of animals counted.
Our marine environment is being industrialised on a scale never seen before: offshore windfarms, undersea cables, fish farms, fishing, fossil fuel drilling, leisure craft (including cruise liners), cargo vessels, military exercises/operations, and even seaweed harvesting – all contributing to a marine environment which is noisy, polluting, and often with competing interests. Now add into that a climate emergency.
As climate change causes our planet to warm, marine heatwaves are becoming more frequent, more intense, and longer lasting. In fact, the number of marine heatwaves has doubled since 1982 and most recently we have seen extreme events in the North Atlantic, Antarctica, and around the Mediterranean. – Ocean Warming.
The information is all there. Wildlife, as in the case of declining seal numbers, tells a story which should shock us and our politicians into action to make decisions, not for short term gain, but for long term survival.
Click on this link to access, NatureScot Research Report 1421 – Aerial surveys of seals in Scotland during the harbour seal moult, 2021-2025
Fiona Grahame.
Leave a Reply