Human disturbance of seal colonies — from tourism, recreation and wildlife photography — is a significant and growing welfare threat to grey and common seal populations.
Seal colony disturbance creates welfare harms ranging from acute (pup abandonment) to chronic (repeated stress from visitor proximity). A grey seal cow frightened from her pup by an approaching photographer may not return; the pup starves over days, crying throughout. The aggregate of such events across a large breeding colony — even where individual incidents seem minor — produces measurable reductions in pup survival rates. Responsible seal watching requires maintaining distances of at least 100m from hauled-out seals, no approach from between mother and water, and immediate withdrawal if any animal responds to presence.