Seal Watch

Why Study Seals?

As top predators, seals are considered sentinels of changes within their ecosystem. Because they spend the majority of their life in water and fall at the top of the food chain, variation in the size or structure of their populations may be representative of larger changes to the dynamic ocean ecosystems. We hope to measure these changes year-round at a large geographical range of study sites in order to better understand how threats to the ecosystem disrupt the dynamics of resident wildlife.

Primary Research Goals

By studying drone and time-lapse images taken throughout the year, we are able to answer a range of research questions. Some of our primary research goals include:

• Estimating seal abundance and population dynamics
• Clarifying the causes of pup mortality and its relationship to environmental conditions
• Understanding seal breeding systems (e.g. harems, mate guarding) impact population dynamics
• Identifying changes in the timing of breeding and how this is affected by environmental conditions

Ultimately, we hope that our research can directly feed into policy as we build evidence to determine important regions for seals and highlight specific regions of concern. There is growing support for Marine Protected Areas in many of our study areas, which would protect these animals, but we must first fill in gaps in our understanding of their populations and behaviours.

Remote Sensing Data

Remote sensing data includes any data we are able to collect without making physical contact with our research subject. This method of data collection is often preferable for wild animals because it minimizes stress on the animal while allowing researchers to gain tremendous insights into their life and behaviour. This type of data includes remotely deployed time-lapse cameras, satellite imagery, and drone imagery. By establishing camera networks across regions where seals breed, particularly in difficult-to-access regions, we hope to capture novel behaviours and study populations that have never before been studied due to their remote locations.

Time-lapse Photos

Drone Imagery

Aerial photos help us to monitor the number of seals in a population over time, and allow us to get highly accurate counts from some of the most remote places on Earth.

Study Sites

South Georgia

Located in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, South Georgia is a British Territory that was once a hub of Southern Ocean sealing. Fur sealing operations on the island throughout the 18th and 19th centuries nearly exterminated breeding populations of Antarctic fur seals, however within decades of the end of harvesting, small breeding populations began to recolonize the island. Elephant sealing continued in South Georgia until 1964. Since the end of sealing in South Georgia, seal populations have increased, however, more research is needed to estimate the current population size and understand how breeding cycles might be changing in response to climate change.

Antarctic Peninsula

Currently, little is known about the populations and habitat use of Antarctic seals on the Antarctic Peninsula. Weddell, leopard, and crabeater seals are common in the region, and by using remote sensing technologies, we hope to learn more about the population and breeding biology of these species.

We Need Your Help

We have collected an abundance of photographic data and continue to collect more every day, but there is simply so much data we can't analyse it by ourselves. That's where you come in. We need your help annotating images so we can convert these photographs into a database we can use to answer ecological questions. We are asking you to identify and tag each seal you see (see the 'Tutorial' for more information).

Measure Grey seal - A Collaborator's Workflow

This project is led by Dr Katrina Davis at the Department of Biology of the University of Oxford.

Grey seals have been protected in the UK since 1914, when the Grey Seals Protection Act was introduced. Further protection was formalised through the Conservation of Seals Act 1970, and since this period grey seal numbers have roughly doubled. Their current population is thought to be around 157,000. Grey seal populations are relatively well studied in Scotland and in the north-east of England. However, we know very little about these populations in other parts of the UK. As grey seal numbers have been increasing, interactions with other marine users, including fisheries and tourism operators, have also been increasing. Some of these interactions are positive, but others are negative. Through this research, we will identify how seal populations around the UK are changing. This knowledge will help managers develop better strategies to protect these animals and to manage their interactions with coastal communities.

Why monitor grey seals?

Monitoring grey seal populations allows us to better understand climate change impacts on the UK marine ecosystem and to obtain a deeper knowledge of how grey seal populations are doing. With this information, we can inform decision-makers on how to best conserve grey seals.

Our goals

Using images from unmanned aerial vehicles (i.e., drones), we will:

• Estimate grey seal population size at key locations around the south-west and north-east of England
• Construct demographic models to understand the population dynamics and trends in these grey seal populations over time
• Gain a deeper understanding of the environmental factors that could influence the population size of grey seals (e.g., climate change)

Drone data

We conduct drone surveys of seal colonies which allow us to access remote seal breeding sites and collect high-quality photos of the colonies without disturbing them. As well as minimising disturbance to seals, this new technique allows researchers to limit the cost of those surveys (once conducted on foot) and to study grey seal populations in detail over time.

Study sites

The Farne Islands
The Farne Islands are a group of rocky islands off the coast of Northumberland (northeast of England), divided into an inner group and an outer group. They provide important wildlife habitats for birds and grey seals. Grey seals have been present on the Farnes for at least 800 years.

The Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly are an archipelago composed of five main islands and some smaller rocky islets. They are situated 45 km from the tip of Cornwall (the southwest tip of Great Britain). Grey seals are the most commonly sighted marine mammals around these islands, making this a good site to study grey seal populations.

How you can help with this special workflow?