A new wildlife campaign to help protect seals on the Swansea and Gower coastline has received support from Swansea Council.
The Council is backing the ‘Give Seals Space’ campaign, which has been developed by the Gower Seal Group and aims to provide advice to visitors to the many Gower beaches about what to do if they spot seals.
Rocky coastal spots such as Limeslade and Bracelet Bay, as well as Port Eynon and Langland Bay have all been known to provide resting spots for groups of seals as well as thousands of visiting public every year.
Colourful new information panels have now been put up at these beaches, part funded by the Council, providing tips and advice on seal behaviour and simple actions the public can do to help make seals feel safe and not disturb them.
Retired police officer Gareth Richards is the founder and director of Gower Seal Group as well as vice chair of UK Seal Alliance. He is the man behind the latest campaign and since retirement has spent his time campaigning for seal safety and the rescue of injured seals.
Seals spend around 80 percent of their time at sea and come ashore along Gower to rest, sleep and digest their food. The short time they are on land is vital to their health, but also makes them vulnerable to human interactions.
The UK is home to a third of the entire world population of grey seals, making them globally rare.
Gareth said: “I’m delighted that we have teamed up with Swansea Council for the ‘give seals space’ campaign.
“What we’re trying to do is educate and inform people, so they can get the very best out of watching wildlife along our coastline without interfering with or disturbing the animals.
“Simple actions such as keeping a good distance away, keeping quiet and using binoculars or your camera phone to observe them will help to prevent them from being scared off from where they are resting.
“Seals are very sensitive to human disturbance. We are very lucky to have them along our coastline in Gower and we want to ensure they feel safe here.”
Andrew Stevens, Cabinet Member for Environment and Infrastructure met with Gareth recently to see the signs being installed and has called on the public to support the campaign.
Cllr Stevens, said: “We fully support what Gower Seal Group is aiming to achieve in terms of protecting seals. We are so lucky to have them along many of our beaches in Swansea and Gower.
“Our beaches are very popular and means we have large numbers of people visiting each year. I’m hoping those that are visiting, wanting to catch a glimpse of seals will pay attention to the new signs and help ensure seals continue to use Swansea’s coastline as a home.”
