offshore and can travel 200km between haul-out sites (Lowry et al. 2001; Sharples et al. 2012).
142. Between 2001 and 2006 tagging of harbour seal was undertaken by the SMRU at a number of haul out sites around the UK, including The Wash and the Outer Thames in England (Sharples et al. 2012). The tagging allowed the transits made by individual seals to be mapped, showing the extent of their ranges offshore and the locations of foraging areas. Animals were found to repeatedly return to specific foraging areas. The majority of seals tagged at haul outs in the Outer Thames made short foraging trips within 40km of their haul out sites with some connectivity apparent between the Wash and the Outer Thames (Sharples et al. 2012).
143. SMRU hold a database of telemetry data of harbour seal juveniles and adults from tagging locations including the Wash and the Thames Estuary from 2003 to 2012 (including data from the Zoological Society of London seal tagging study). These telemetry data can be used to inform levels of connectivity between tagged harbour seal and the East Anglia THREE site plus a 20km buffer area (herein referred to as East Anglia THREE seal study area; Appendix 12.3).
144. None of the 43 tagged harbour seals aged one or above entered the East Anglia THREE seal study area (Appendix 12.3). These data support the conclusion that harbour seal do not regularly utilise the East Anglia THREE seal study area, as shown by the at sea densities (Jones et al. 2013).
145. A large number of harbour seal have also been tagged at haul out sites at Dutch colonies (e.g. Brasseur et al. 2010). EATL has commissioned IMARES to explore connectivity between tagged harbour seal and the East Anglia THREE site (Appendix 12.4).
146. A total of 273 harbour seal were tagged at sites in the Netherlands between 1997 and 2013. Of these seals, 10 were found to travel within 20km of the East Anglia THREE site. Of these 10 seals, six entered the offshore cable corridor and two were within the East Anglia THREE site. It is likely all but one harbour seal spent less than 2% of their ‘time-at-sea’ within the area, with an exception being a harbour seal tagged in 2007 with spent at least 2% and up to 17% of its ‘time-at-sea’ within the offshore cable corridor (Appendix 12.4).
147. The Dutch tagging data illustrate the long ranging movements harbour seal and levels of connectivity between Dutch haul out sites and those on the east coast of England.
Preliminary Environmental Information May 2014
East Anglia THREE Offshore Windfarm
Chapter 12 Marine Mammal Ecology Page 49
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140