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Seals on


Dart the By Stephen Westcott W


hen using the estuary of the Dart or the Mewstone archipelago rocks just


outside the entrance, grey seals are very close to the eastern limit of their regular range along the north coast of the Channel. Harbour seals occur here too, al- though they are uncommon. To date they have visited mostly as solitary animals except for one summer when a pair frequented the Mewstone haul-outs. For a long period, seal numbers


here were low and relatively stable. In recent years, there has been a slow, steady increase in numbers. Where previously their presence in the Dart was known mainly to salmon nets- men, now they seem well-known to all. People have learned to look out for them assembled on floating pon- toons (for example across the mouth of Old Mill Creek or off Maypool) or in the water as far upstream as the weir above Totnes. Increased interest in the seals has caused a considerable increase in efforts by people to approach them closely, as confirmed by studies carried out in 2000, 2006 and 2018.


Local effort has been made to limit the extent to which people disturb the seals for the sake of both. Follow- ing the 2000 study for example, a vol- untary exclusion zone was created at the Mewstone, as agreed by the local stake-holders who included potters, pleasure boat companies, the police wildlife officer, the National Trust and


causing disturbance to wildlife, including seals. It showed that seal disturbance was worse than before. In response, a leaflet was distributed with the literature that was posted with the DHNA annual boat licence renewals. It drew attention to the 2000 agreement and outlined how best and how close to approach seals without causing disturbance. In 2018, the study was repeated


wildlife group representatives. It was agreed unanimously that water craft would not enter the lagoon area inside the Shooter Rock at the Mew- stone or approach closer than 25m from where seals were hauled out. The 2006 study – it took place under the auspices of Dart Amenities Research Trust - followed a period during which local pleasure boat skippers undertook the training course designed by the WiseScheme, designed to recognise how to avoid


and it found that not only were disturbance levels higher than ever and that the 2000 agreement was being ignored but seal behaviour was changing. In the previous studies, for example, seals had no tolerance of close approach by kayaks, now they seemed partly habituated to flotillas of kayaks that settled more or less motionless in the lagoon area for prolonged periods of 20 minutes or so. On local television, footage showed a seal clambering out of the sea on to the front of a kayak while a local newspaper carried a report earlier in the year of a seal repeating the manoeuvre except that he nipped the kayaker. It appears that seals are losing their wariness of people as the number of


Enjoying our Seals (advice from the Dart Estuary Forum)


Please try to avoid approaching resting, drying and sleeping seals hauled out onto rocks or pontoons. Unnecessarily fast, noisy or direct approach is likely to scare them into the water. Stopping closer than 25 metres to watch them will also attract their attention and may result in disturbance. To best enjoy their natural behaviour, pretend to ignore them and pass by slowly and quietly.


Photos by Stephen Westcott


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