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
27 January—29 December
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14 of 764 reports
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Explore by area
Markers represent named areas, never exact sighting positions. Circle size reflects report counts; numbers match the area list. Select an area to filter the archive.
10 of 14 reports mapped · 3 areas
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Map: Natural Earth.
Reports over time
All datesSelect a year, then a month. Counts describe published reports; one animal may appear in several reports.
Months in 2019
Grouped by each record’s archive date. Approximate dates keep their original labels in the records below.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Durlston Country Park, Latest Sightings (2019 table)
Observation: The Durlston table identifies one grey seal off Tilly Whim.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Durlston Country Park, Latest Sightings (2019 table)
Observation: The Durlston table records one seal and marks “pup?” as uncertain; species and age are left unspecified.
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Date:Reported: Dot-to-Dot STV News, 21 February 2020 — https://news.stv.tv/west-central/seal-pup-released-back-into-wild-after-being-found-in-car-park
Observation: A seal pup was found after travelling through the harbour and into a car park. The Scottish SPCA later named the pup Dot-to-Dot; the later release at Broughty Ferry is not treated as another wild sighting.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Durlston Country Park, Latest Sightings (2019 table)
Observation: The Durlston table identifies one grey seal off Tilly Whim.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified ITV News Wales, 2 October 2019 — https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2019-10-02/seal-pup-found-on-top-50m-sea-cliff-in-pembrokeshire
Observation: A month-old seal pup was found on top of a 50-metre sea cliff; the RSPCA later took it for rehabilitation.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified ZSL Thames Marine Mammal Survey public sightings map — https://sites.zsl.org/inthethames/main/ (reported by Sue)
Observation: Observer description: Two seals were on the mud at low tide. A volunteer at Crossness also saw them.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified r/london eyewitness report — https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/ctuc31/
Observation: A poster saw a seal in the Thames at 08:40 while walking over Southwark Bridge and reported it to ZSL.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified annakatarina — iNaturalist
Observation: Photographic observation identified on iNaturalist as grey seal (Halichoerus grypus).
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Durlston Country Park, Latest Sightings (2019 table)
Observation: The Durlston table records one seal off Anvil Point; species not specified.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Durlston Country Park, Latest Sightings (2019 table)
Observation: The Durlston table records one seal near the Swanage Bay outfall; species not specified.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Durlston Country Park, Latest Sightings (2019 table)
Observation: The Durlston table records one grey seal watching climbers from the area labelled “subliminal”.
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Date:Reported: Unidentified matthew_magilton — iNaturalist
Observation: Photographic observation identified on iNaturalist as harbour seal (Phoca vitulina).
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Date:Reported: Unidentified cfg — iNaturalist
Observation: Photographic observation identified on iNaturalist as harbour seal (Phoca vitulina).
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Date:Reported: Unidentified Durlston Country Park, Latest Sightings (2019 table)
Observation: The Durlston table records three grey seals in the evening, described as one seal with two pups. This is one adult-and-pups encounter.