Population of seals and sharks rises off English coast

The grey seal population in parts of Cumbria is on the rise (Photo: Ian Dyball/Shutterstock)

Good news from Cumbria where populations of grey seals, sharks and rays are on the increase, but so too are invasive Pacific oysters

Reaching out into the Irish Sea, the dramatic coastline of Cumbria in northwest England is one of the most important coastal habitats in the UK. A 27km long stretch of it is protected as the Cumbria Coast Marine Conservation Zone, while the ancient coastal village of St Bee’s (which is also contained within this conservation zone) is home to one of the most important inter-tidal rocky shore habitats in the northwest of England.

All this makes the Cumbrian coastline hot seafront property for a wide array of marine creatures – and what’s particularly encouraging is that some of the most iconic marine species resident here are increasing in number.

The good news came in the end-of-year reports for the Cumbria Wildlife Trust, which teamed up with other North West wildlife trusts to produce the findings. Some of the key takeaways from the report are that aerial surveys conducted in January 2023 revealed that the grey seal population at the South Walney Nature Reserve had recovered well from a population dip in 2022 stading at 466 individuals at the time of the survey, with nine pups born during the breeding season.

Grey seal and pup – nine were born to the Cumbria colony in 2023 (Photo: Shutterstock)

What makes the numbers even more impressive is that the seal colony in the nature reserve is recent, having developed from single figures since the 1980s, and this was only the ninth year in which the seals have bred here.

Georgia de Jong Cleyndert, head of marine at North West Wildlife Trusts said of the seal success story, ‘This is Cumbria’s only breeding grey seal colony. With a lot of help from volunteers and local people, we’ve worked really hard to make this site safe and secure for the seals. This includes keeping disturbance to a minimum.

‘It’s been a real conservation success story but we face ongoing challenges with disturbance. We urge everyone to help us ensure that the seals are not disturbed, so that they feel able to return here to breed in years to come’.

And the good news didn’t stop with the blubbery ones, with 2023 being a good year for the rays and sharks that swim the seas off Cumbria (don’t worry we’re not talking Jaws). In April a novel Easter Egg hunt took place at Walney Island during which volunteers scoured the shorelines looking for egg cases (often called mermaid’s purses) discarded by species such as small spotted catsharks, nurse hound sharks, thornback rays and spotted rays.

The small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) is healthy in UK waters (Photo: Shutterstock)

The egg hunters managed to find an incredible 3759 discarded egg cases – a 13 per cent increase over 2022 suggesting that the ray and shark population in these waters is healthy. If you want to volunteer for this and other conservation-themed projects, you can join The Bay: A Blueprint for Recovery, the trust’s combined conservation and wellness program.

Despite the headline good news though, it wasn’t all roses. The population of Pacific oysters, an invasive species, was found to be expanding in southwest Cumbria. Although overall numbers are still low in more southerly parts of the UK, such as Devon and Cornwall, Pacific oysters are fast becoming a big problem as they out-compete native species.

Another sad story concerned the huge numbers of starfish washed up on the Cumbrian coastline after the November storms and some cases of seals and porpoises being washed up tangled in abandoned fishing nets.

‘Ghost gear is fishing gear such as nets, pots and lines which have become lost, discarded or abandoned at sea,’ said Ms de Jong Cleyndert. ‘This gear continues to needlessly catch and kill marine life, such as seals. Lost fishing gear is one of the most common types of marine litter found in the sea today. We run regular beach cleans around the coast to help to clear up marine litter. Why not get involved?’

For more information from the Cumbria Wildlife Trust, and how to get involved, visit www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk

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Stuart Butler

Stuart Butler is a journalist and photographer specialising in conservation, the environment and hiking, with contributions to more than 100 travel books for Lonely Planet and Rough guide, plus a number of specialist hiking and wildlife guides