Harbour seal population estimate about to start

This summer, the Icelandic harbour seal population will be surveyed to estimate the size of the population and local trends. For the first time, drones will be used to count the seals in the haul-out sites.

This year a partial estimate is carried out, taking Faxaflói, Strandir and North west Iceland into consideration. Regular population estimates of the Icelandic harbour seal population has been carried out since 1980, when the population was estimated to be around 33.000 animals. In total, 13 population estimates have been conducted and the last time a full population estimate was carried out was in 2020, when the population was estimated to be 10.300 animals. Due to the decline of roughly 70% observed since the first estimate was carried out, the population is defined as endangered on the national red list for threatened populations. Due to the sensitive conservation status of the population, it is important to monitor trends in the population.

Until now, population estimates have been based on counts carried out from airplanes, but from now on it has been decided to use drones instead. Therefore, only a part of the coastline will be covered each year and older estimates up-dated locally. A full population estimate taking into consideration the whole coastline will be at hand within a few years.

The project is conducted by the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute and the Icelandic Seal Center, and is carried out in collaboration with the drone company Svarmi ehf.