Seals edge back into the good books

A NEW film may go some way towards restoring the seal as a loved and esteemed creature in Ireland.

Seals have been taking a battering — in every respect. But it was not always that way, as seals have traditionally been well regarded, often featuring in ancient mythology.

There have been some horrific cases of mass slaughter of seals, with the finger of suspicion pointing towards the fishing community.

Outrage was sparked off two years ago after upwards of 50 seals were either shot or bludgeoned to death at Beginnish Island, near the Great Blasket. As grey seals of the kind found in the Blasket area are protected under the 1976 Wildlife Act, it is illegal to kill them.

Nobody was prosecuted.

The 600-strong Blasket grey seal colony is one of the most important in western Europe and accounts for about a third of the total Irish seal population.

The colony is the subject of a film shot over a two-year period by the French wildlife filmmaker Jacquie Cozens, who happened to be one of the people that discovered the aftermath of the slaughter locally while diving in early November, 2004.

The film is titled Grey Seals — Life on the Edge, and offers suggestions on how people and these gentle creatures can live harmoniously together. Some people might even take that further and use seals as a tourist attraction: they can be fascinating when frolicking about in the water.

The question of seals causing serious damage to fisheries looks like being eternally controversial, but few detailed studies have been conducted.

In his 2005 book, Ireland’s Coastline, Richard Nairn wrote that recent studies in Youghal and Dunmore East showed the average seal damage to monkfish landings was only 10%, with crabs and skinners causing much more damage to these fish in the nets.

“Occasionally, the seals become tangled and drown. These are usually immature animals and are known as bycatch seals. Their post-mortem analysis gives us additional information on their diet. There is a striking predominance of whiting in the stomachs of grey seals in the Celtic Sea,” he said.

Grey seals are found in remote and exposed coasts, with the largest number in Ireland being in the Inniskea Islands, off Co Mayo. Up to 1,000 have been counted there, including many immigrants from Scotland.

The Blasket population forms the second biggest assembly. Seals also feature in Blasket literature, which tell how their skins made excellent coats and waistcoats and covering for boats. Their blubber was used for oil to light lamps.

Accounts from around the Irish coastline show that seal hunting was a regular activity in some areas, especially after the pups were born and were lying on beaches for several weeks while they were being weaned.

But, some of the mythology surrounding seals made some people reluctant to hunt and kill them. There are stories, for example, about lost children being suckled and unharmed by seals, which created a general belief that seal hunting would only bring misfortune to the hunters.

There are also legends about seals leading fishermen in difficulty at sea to safety, again underlining the respect with which these marine animals were once held.

Another thing is that seals appear to be curious about people. They also have very large eyes, not unlike human eyes, and, on making eye contact with a seal, it’s surely harder to do it any harm.

A perception in recent years is that the seal population has grown, while other marine species have declined.

One reason for this phenomenon may be that the evacuation by humans of several islands off the coast has allowed seals to propagate undisturbed by people who, traditionally, had been their hunters. Seals breed on land, but spend more than half their time in the sea.

Meanwhile, the latest work of Jacquie Cozens should help bring about a keener appreciation of seals and why they ought to be valued.

One positive outcome of the Beginnish slaughter was that it helped bring about the first seal population census by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, she believes.