Welcome to JerseySeals

JerseySeals is in its eighth year - its aims remain “to investigate the size, status and behaviour of the seal populations encountered around the Channel Islands and especially Jersey.”

· The number of seals locally at any time may be quite small, at least relative to the world population. The latitude of the islands is near the limit of the southerly range of the grey seal.

· There is archaeological evidence for the presence of seals in the Channel Islands from several thousand years ago. There is then a hiatus in seal history between such prehistoric records and those of the late 19th century when there are a number of records of sightings - seals were occasionally captured. The Jersey language has several words for seal and there are a few references to seals in local place names.

· The Bulletins of the Société Jersiaise have from time to time reported seal sightings - the first record was in 1938 but until recently seals have generally been regarded as “occasional”. There are records from the other Channels Islands and from adjacent French coasts.

· JerseySeals concludes that it is probable that the great majority of seals sighted in the Channel Islands are Grey Seals. However the presence of the Harbour Seal cannot be ruled out and there are reports of this species nearby in the Baie de Mont Saint Michel. Further, JerseySeals regards that the notion of seals as “occasional” may merit review. The number of sightings during the study period 1999 and 2000, and the numbers of animals seen then, no longer fits with “occasional”. JerseySeals’ effort related data records that seals were sighted overall on 98% of dedicated observation days - this suggests that the Grey Seal as a species is resident in Jersey waters. A number of individual animals may be present from year to year.

Postal address: JerseySeals, Sanderling, Brickfield Lane, St. Saviour, Jersey JE2 7SD, UK.

Email JerseySeals Phone: From Jersey: 768678 From UK: 01534 768678 From France: 00 44 1534 768678

Information given to JerseySeals is available on request to the Zoology Section of the Société Jersiaise and to Laboratoire d’Études des Mammiferes Marins, Oceanopolis, Brest, Bretagne, France. JerseySeals’ dedicated observation and effort related data may be withheld from general release - findings are published on this site (or elsewhere) from time to time but if not reported after 5 years will be notified to bona fide individuals and organisations who are anyway urged to request information at any time (sensitive data concerning critical haul out and other frequented sites and behaviour may be withheld). Disclaimer: The JerseySeals website is intended as a resource but does not pretend to contain all the latest scientific information nor can it guarantee to be free of mistakes - please notify any discovered errors! The copyright of all images on this website is retained by JerseySeals - use of any image for commercial purposes is prohibited without the prior consent of JerseySeals. JerseySeals’ members are members of the Société Jersiaise and of its Marine Biology and Zoology Sections. JerseySeals is most grateful to Barclays Bank (Barclays Group Donation and Sponsorship Committee) who have generously sponsored this website - their recognition of JerseySeals’ educational and environmental ethos is appreciated.