Everyone knows the seas are in a mess - over-fished, over-polluted, altogether overexploited. And they’re getting warmer. So why are marine scientists “baffled” by “massive declines” of seal populations in British waters?

Marine biologists have warned of significant and serious changes in the seas around Britain after the latest surveys revealed a dramatic fall in the numbers of common seals in waters around Scotland and along eastern England. The change between 2006 and 2008 is minus 14% for Scotland and minus 12% for Britain overall. Professor Ian Boyd of the sea mammals research unit at St Andrew’s University said “we just don’t know the cause. We’re seeing a frightening decline - these populations don’t change as quickly as that under normal circumstances. The rates of decline are equivalent to producing no offspring for five or six years”. However, these data are merely following trends shown by other elements of the marine environment, plummeting sea bird populations (puffin numbers down by one third), huge declines in food sources such as sand eels, and warmer-water organisms moving north. Seals are one of the top predators in the marine food pyramid, so, with dwindling food supplies and more competition, is it surprising that their numbers are falling?

Seals are highly visible, charismatic creatures and thus more likely than most marine species to become a cause célèbre for conservation. This might lead to an extension of legal protection for example by abolishing the Seal Conservation Act 1970, which allows salmon farmers and the fishing industry to shoot seals that are damaging their nets. That could help the seals for a while, but it would not address the root cause of the problem.

A draft marine Bill has been drawn up and, if the government stops procrastinating, will come before the current Parliament. Conservation bodies think it doesn’t do nearly enough to protect our seas. They want to see designation of fully protected marine reserves that are protected against all potentially harmful activities including fishing. That would help the seals, and many more species as well. Write to your MP before it’s too late?

In this issue of White Admiral look out for the prize-winning drawings in the ‘Summer of Insects’ competition, see centre pages. I’m told that judging was difficult because all the entries were good. Well done everybody! Oh yes, and there’s a creepy article about worms that do nasty things to their hosts...