Grey Seal Numbers in the Wadden Sea and on Helgoland in 2015-2016

Trilateral Seal Expert Group (TSEG)

The relatively mild winter of 2015-2016, during which storms did not wash young animals off the breeding sites, yielded very high numbers of grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) pups in the Wadden Sea area. During the coordinated aerial, boat and land surveys, the Danish, Dutch and German Wadden Sea grey seal breeding areas including Helgoland (Germany) were covered. Furthermore, during the grey seal moulting period in the spring of 2016, the first ever dedicated grey seal surveys were carried out throughout the Wadden Sea area by air.

By the members of the Trilateral Seal Expert Group (TSEG):
Sophie Brasseur, Richard Czeck, Anders Galatius, Lasse Fast Jensen, Armin Jeß, Peter Körber, Ralf Pund, Ursula Siebert, Jonas Teilmann, Sascha Klöpper