Research

Over the last few years the population of common seals in Orkney has plummeted by 80%.  In an effort to find out why, the Sea Mammal Research Unit are here catching and fitting monitors to some of them.  

Ever the nosey one, when I saw the boats in the bay I went to see how they were getting on and had a very interesting chat with Monica, one of the project leaders.  As well as being fitted with tags, the seals are weighed and measured and have various samples taken from them before they are released.  

The official camera man is Raymond Besant, Orkney's finest wildlife photographer.  He is contracted by Vodafone to take photos of the procedure, as they are providing the tracking devices.  His website is well worth a look.