Common seals are vulnerable to disturbance at haul-out sites, and public access management directly protects individual welfare during moulting and pupping.
Common seal welfare at haul-out sites is directly affected by disturbance from recreational activity. Seals flushed from haul-out sites lose thermoregulation opportunities and, in pupping females, may become separated from dependent pups. Nursing pups disturbed into the water before they are weaned risk starvation. Marine disturbance guidance and exclusion zones around haul-out sites during pupping season directly prevent these welfare harms. PDV outbreaks represent acute welfare events causing mass mortality that are monitored but not preventable.