Harbour seals are a familiar sight on UK coasts, but face welfare pressures from disease, fishing entanglement, and human disturbance at haul-out sites.
Harbour seal welfare is vulnerable at haul-out sites where resting and nursing seals are repeatedly disturbed by boats, kayakers, and walkers. A mother separated from a pup by disturbance may not reunite, leading to pup starvation. Ghost gear entanglement causes progressive strangulation around seals' necks as they grow. Phocine distemper remains a threat - the 1988 epidemic demonstrated how rapidly disease can devastate a population. Management of haul-out disturbance through exclusion zones during pupping season is the most direct welfare intervention.