Drone image of grey seals on beach at South Walney Nature Reserve

We’re excited to announce that we’ve recently counted a record number of grey seals at South Walney Nature Reserve near Barrow. A total of 563 seals were counted earlier this season, which runs from September 2024 to March 2025.

The previous highest grey seal counts were 518 in 2021, 483 in 2019 and 360 in 2018, showing an upward trend year on year.

Beth Churn, Marine Conservation Officer for Cumbria Wildlife Trust said: “This is wonderful news and a real landmark for us. The growth of the grey seal colony at South Walney is a great conservation success story. The colony has grown from single figures in the 1980s and 90s and now we have exceeded our previous highest count by nearly 50!”