United Kingdom · 2000—2026
Grey and harbour seals
Seals around the United Kingdom.
Follow public seal observations from the United Kingdom. Browse published records, explore the places and stories behind them, or share an encounter with the Seal Watch team.
- Total reports
- 764
- Latest observation
Public reports · newest first
Public records archive
11 August 2014—30 July 2023
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6 of 764 reports
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Explore by area
All areasMarkers represent named areas, never exact sighting positions. Circle size reflects report counts; numbers match the area list. Select an area to filter the archive.
398 of 764 reports mapped · 27 areas
Scroll the map sideways to explore the whole coast.
Mapped areas North to south
- Shetland, Scotland2 reports
- Caithness, Scotland1 report
- Peterhead1 report
- Aberdeenshire3 reports
- Highland, Scotland4 reports
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland1 report
- Oban North and Lorn Ward1 report
- East Lothian, Scotland1 report
- Great Cumbrae Island2 reports
- County Antrim, Northern Ireland3 reports
- Northumberland, England3 reports
- Seaton Sluice1 report
- County Down, Northern Ireland1 report
- Scarborough1 report
- Lincolnshire, England5 reports
- North Somercotes1 report
- Merseyside, England1 report
- Conwy, Wales1 report
- Gwynedd, Wales1 report
- Great Yarmouth coast1 report
- Norfolk, England3 reports
- Southend-on-Sea1 report
- London259 reports
- Kent, England2 reports
- Dorset, England95 reports
- Exeter1 report
- Cornwall, England2 reports
Areas without one map point
Broad country and coast labels, and places without a reviewed reference, remain filterable here.
- South West England178 reports
- South West England and Wales23 reports
- Scotland19 reports
- Dorset16 reports
- Worcestershire, England13 reports
- Aberdeenshire, Scotland11 reports
- East Sussex11 reports
- Cornwall6 reports
- Kent6 reports
- London, England5 reports
- Belfast, Northern Ireland4 reports
- Devon, England4 reports
- Surrey4 reports
- West Sussex4 reports
- Cardiff, Wales3 reports
- United Kingdom3 reports
- Brighton and Hove, England2 reports
- Cambridgeshire, England2 reports
- England2 reports
- Essex, England2 reports
- Glasgow, Scotland2 reports
- Gloucestershire, England2 reports
- Hampshire, England2 reports
- Orkney, Scotland2 reports
- Pembrokeshire, Wales2 reports
- Thames, London2 reports
- Wales2 reports
- West London2 reports
- Aberdeen City, Scotland1 report
- Anglesey, Wales1 report
- Angus, Scotland1 report
- Cambridgeshire1 report
- Ceredigion, Wales1 report
- Cheshire1 report
- County Londonderry, Northern Ireland1 report
- Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland1 report
- East Sussex, England1 report
- Edinburgh, Scotland1 report
- English Channel coast1 report
- Inverclyde, Scotland1 report
- Louth area1 report
- Maidstone, Kent1 report
- Mainland1 report
- Malling, Kent1 report
- North Ayrshire, Scotland1 report
- North East England1 report
- North Sea coast1 report
- Northamptonshire, England1 report
- Outer Hebrides, Scotland1 report
- Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England1 report
- Rotherhithe, London, England1 report
- Shetland1 report
- Suffolk, England1 report
- Surrey, England1 report
- Teddington and Twickenham, London, England1 report
- Thames Estuary, Essex1 report
- Twickenham, London, England1 report
- Tyne and Wear1 report
- West Dorset, England1 report
- York, North Yorkshire1 report
Map: Natural Earth.
Reports over time
Select a year, then a month. Counts describe published reports; one animal may appear in several reports.
Grouped by each record’s archive date. Approximate dates keep their original labels in the records below.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Sea Watch Foundation field report — https://www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk/national-whale-and-dolphin-watch-day-1-2-29th-30th-july/
Observation: A grey seal was reported heading east from Dungeness.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Sea Watch Foundation field report — https://www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk/national-whale-and-dolphin-watch-day-1-2-29th-30th-july/
Observation: Two harbour seals were reported bottling (sleeping in the water) between 10:30 and 11:00.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified ZSL Thames Marine Mammal Survey public sightings map — https://sites.zsl.org/inthethames/main/ (reported by Chris)
Observation: Observer description: A seal surfaced near the kayaks, then continued swimming alongside them and intermittently breaking the surface for about half a mile on the return to the harbour.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified ZSL Thames Marine Mammal Survey public sightings map — https://sites.zsl.org/inthethames/main/ (reported by DCurnick)
Observation: The public-map entry reports 16 harbour seals and no grey seals at 08:09.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified ZSL Thames Marine Mammal Survey public sightings map — https://sites.zsl.org/inthethames/main/ (reported by BenMann)
Observation: The observer described one large, dark seal with a long snout and no visible white facial markings.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified ZSL Thames Marine Mammal Survey public sightings map — https://sites.zsl.org/inthethames/main/ (reported by PacificUnderseaGardens and Richard-Spink)
Observation: Two public-map entries by separate observers report 10 harbour seals and no grey seals at 08:17 at this locality. One entry says photographs were attached; they were not reviewed.