Campaign urging people to be responsible around coastal wildlife launched by RSPCA and Police

Campaign urging people to be responsible around coastal wildlife launched by RSPCA and Police - RSPCA

A campaign to stop people behaving irresponsibly near marine animals such as seals, dolphins and nesting birds is being rolled out nationally by the RSPCA, the police and other partner organisations.

As the UK's staycation season kicks off, Operation Seabird launches its national campaign (Friday 4 June) amid reports of irresponsible behaviour towards wildlife around Britain's coastline.

Common disturbances to wildlife include speedboats, kayaks and paddleboards deliberately getting too close to seals, dolphins and cetaceans. Sadly this often causes stress to the animals and can result in the females suffering spontaneous abortions or babies being abandoned by their mothers.

Other issues include dogs off leads disturbing nesting birds or seals, litter including plastic rings severely injuring seals, wild camping beach barbecues and camp fires causing significant damage on the beach and quad bikes or 4x4s vehicles riding over nesting areas. There have even been incidents where beachgoers have got too close to wild animals for the sake of a selfie. Users of boats and other watercraft can also cause severe injury to some marine mammals if they collide with them while trying to watch them.

Operation Seabird in place to protect wildlife

The national campaign - piloted in regional hotspots in 2020 - aims to raise awareness and educate people about how vital it is not to disturb the mammals and birds of Britain's coastal areas and to enjoy watching them from afar.

RSPCA National Wildlife Co-ordinator Geoff Edmond said: "We want people to enjoy watching our marine wildlife but this should be done at a safe and sensible distance without disturbing the animals. Every year, the RSPCA's wildlife centres have to treat and rehabilitate a wide range of wildlife - including seals and seabirds - which have been injured or orphaned due to human disturbance.
For example, last year, in a particularly shocking incident, members of the public had to be held back by a cordon to stop them trying to take selfies and distressing an injured seal who was recovering on a beach on Hayling Island, West Sussex.”