Common and grey seal pupping seasons on UK beaches attract significant human attention, but disturbance causes severe welfare harm to vulnerable pups and nursing mothers.
Seal pup welfare during pupping season is directly affected by human behaviour. Approaching seals closely for photographs causes stress flight responses - pups may enter the sea prematurely, losing access to their mothers and warmth. Dogs running freely on pupping beaches can scatter pups and disrupt nursing. Maternal abandonment following repeated disturbance leaves pups to starve on beaches. The welfare intervention required from the public is distance and restraint - observing seals from at least 100m, keeping dogs on leads, and reporting sick or genuinely abandoned pups to BDMLR rather than attempting to help directly. Human intervention with apparently stranded pups more often causes harm than benefit.