A survey by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) suggests that seals in the River Thames estuary are bouncing back after centuries of exploitation... “Historically, seals were killed for their meat and fur, so for the first time in UK history we have seals getting back towards their natural numbers,” said ZSL conservationist Joanna Barker. “Grey seals in Suffolk, Norfolk and the Wash have been rapidly increasing and we are seeing more pupping areas. So we think the same grey seals are travelling down to the Thames to feed or rest.” There is also an opportunity for the public to engage in citizen science by contributing to the research and submitting sightings... ZSL’s UK and Europe programme manager Rayner Piper said: “Although we carry out an intensive period of monitoring in August, we rely on the public to keep their eyes peeled and submit their sightings for the rest of the year. This year seals have been spotted near to a number of iconic locations, including beside the London Eye and underneath the Millennium Bridge.” ONLINE INTERACTIVE WEBPAGE: sites.zsl.org/inthethames/#ZSLs surveys theguardian/environment/2014/sep/04/seal-population-thames-estuary-rising
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 10:05:28 +0000
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