Numbers returning to natural level after centuries of culling for meat and fur, survey finds
theguardian.com, Thursday 4 September 2014 05.30 BST
Seals are prospering in the greater Thames estuary as populations bounce back from centuries of culling, according to a new scientific survey.
The research suggests hundreds of new seals visited the estuary in 2014, with some taking in the sights of central London by swimming all the way up to Teddington lock, the end of the tidal river.
The survey by Zoological Society of London researchers took advantage of the seals’ moulting season in August, when they bask on sunny sand banks whilst growing a new winter coat. Compared to the first survey in 2013, the team found the population of harbour seals had increased slightly to 679 while grey seal sightings more than doubled to 449.
Seals were killed for meat and fur until the practice was outlawed in 1970 and, despite their proximity to the capital, the Thames seals are the least understood population in the UK.
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