Grey seals can be found all over the British Isles, and are a prominent residence here on the north coast of Wales.
Grey Seals are among the rarest species of seals. The UK is one of their main homes, our population of Grey Seals makes up 45% of the world’s and 95% of Europe’s.
Anyone visiting a bay with hopes of catching a glimpse of these gorgeous ocean mammals, remember to be respectful. Keep any dogs well away to avoid any conflict, do not try and get close to them and use your common sense. If there are any seals on a remote beach please do not try to get down to the beach for a closer look.
Often visited coastal paths and beaches where grey seals may have been found in the past are now generally no longer a home to these animals, so don’t scare them off!
It can be very interesting to come and visit and they don’t mind people watching them from a great distance above. It’s important to raise an awareness of these wild animals and learning something first hand is a brilliant way to do that. But it is imperative that you do not harass a colony.
The Welsh Mountain Zoo actually have a rescue and rehabilitation programme for both grey seals and common seals, where they rescue, feed and re-release them back into the wild.
If you are looking for a way to contribute towards the continued welfare and survival of these British species then there are a number of ways such as donating directly to the zoo website. Funding such as this can go towards the continued prevalence of their very successful programme.
http://www.welshmountainzoo.org/donate/
Watch the video below for an inside look into how the programme works,
(Just press play, it will skip to the Seal section of the video and play that only)