Wildlife

Marine Animals Code of Conduct

For some animals, the confined shallows of our estuaries place greater demands on their ability to navigate and extra allowances must be made for them.

Always let them decide what happens
Keep your distance, never closer than 100m where possible
Never head straight towards, move between, scatter or separate groups of animals. If unsure, STOP and if applicable, put engine into neutral
Take special care with mothers and their young
Avoid repeated changes in direction or speed – maintain a slow ‘no wake’ speed
If animals keep heading away or your activity is distressing them, slowly leave
Never dispose of rubbish, litter or contaminants into the sea or estuary. Dispose of all rubbish responsibly and if there is no bin, take your rubbish home
On and near the water – try to avoid approaching resting, drying and sleeping seals hauled out onto rocks or pontoons. Unnecessarily fast, noisy or direct approach is likely to scare them into the water causing injury. Stopping closer than 30 metres to watch them will also attract their attention and may result in disturbance. Do not land or enter the Mewstone lagoon [Dart estuary]. To best enjoy natural behavior, pretend to ignore them and pass by slowly and quietly

Reporting Offences

Many marine animals are declining and your active cooperation in conserving them is expected by law. Most are protected by the Wildlife and Conservation Act (as amended). It is an offence to deliberately or recklessly disturb, harass or endanger them.

Please report any such incidents to the Police or RSPCA stating full details to include vessel details (type, colour, name etc.) or car registration if applicable.

Police – 101

RSPCA – 0300 1234999

Thank you.

Give Seals Space and Do Not Disturb

Did you know we are lucky in the UK to see both grey seals and common seals!

It’s not unusual to see seals resting on the beach. Seals are semi-aquatic and spend a lot of their time on land to sleep, conserve energy, digest food more efficiently and raise pups. After stormy weather and/or high tides, seals will haul out on beaches to rest and regain their strength. Finding a seal on the beach does not mean there is necessarily a problem, so please leave them there.

TO WATCH SEALS SAFELY …

STOP: Please do NOT approach them or allow children or dogs near them (keep dogs on leads). Seals can inflict nasty bites so it’s for yours, your child’s, and your dog’s own protection, as well as the seal’s!
SPACE: Give seals plenty of space by keeping a minimum distance of 100m from them. If the seal is a young pup, mum might still be in the area. Unweaned seal pups depend on mum’s milk to build up their blubber reserves in order to survive, but she may abandon her pup if anyone has interfered. Use a camera with a zoom or binoculars if you want to take a closer look.
SILENCE: Seals are easily disturbed on land where they are far more wary of threats. They stampede into the sea when they are startled, which will likely cause injuries and, in extreme cases, even death. Please stay calm, quiet, downwind and keep a low profile during your encounter so they don’t notice you.
SLEEP: Seals need to conserve their energy for their time out at sea and to digest food, socialise and feed their pups. If a seal is looking directly at you, it means it’s stopped its normal behaviour and is worrying about what you are doing instead, increasing stress.
LITTER: take it home

NEVER

get close to seals
fly drones near seals
feed wild seals
scare seals or put pups into the sea
copy the bad behaviour of others
take a selfie

If you are concerned about a seal’s welfare …

… Please call the British Divers Marine Life Rescue hotline on 01825 765546 for advice.

If you find a live stranded whale, dolphin or porpoise

NEVER

Do NOT put them back into the sea! They made need treatment and/or a period of recover before they are fit enough to swim strongly. They may even be too ill to return to the sea and so any attempts to return them can prolong their suffering.

Call British Divers Marine Life Rescue on 01825 765546 and they will dispatch a trained Marine Mammal Medic to assist.

Whilst waiting:

PROTECTION: cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) can carry viruses transmissible to humans (and vice versa!), so please put on a facemask and gloves before doing anything else. Avoid the blowhole (the hole on the top – this is how it breathes!) for any discharge and steer clear of the tail in case it is thrashing.
POSITIONING: If the animal is on its side, please upright them by gently rolling them onto their underbelly (You might need some people to help you!) Dig trenches under their pectoral fins so they can hang down comfortably.
POUR WATER: If the animal is completely stranded on land, pour water over it to keep its skin moist, ensuring that nothing goes down the blowhole. If you have a thin sheet or even seaweed that you can soak with water and drape over the dolphin, please do so but again avoid covering the blowhole so it can breathe.
PEOPLE: Keep noise and the number of people around the animal to a minimum to reduce stress. Continue to keep the dolphin wet and wait for BDMLR to arrive. Remember to keep everyone safe first and foremost, so do not put yourself in danger with tides, bad weather, rough seas and so on.
PHOTOS: Take and send photos and videos to the BDMLR call handler so next steps can be considered.

If you find a dead cetacean

Should you find a dead dolphin or whale, the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP – covering England and Wales) and Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme (SMASS – covering Scotland) collects a wide range of data on each stranding found on UK shores. If you discover a dead animal, please contact the CSIP/SMASS hotline and give a description of the following where possible: