Overview

• The 2024/2025 survey recorded 12,064 grey seals, including 3,051 pups, marking the largest count since biannual tallies began in 2008.
• Overall numbers have climbed by nearly 10% annually over the past five years while newborn counts rose about 12% per year.
• About 71% of the population resides in Dutch Wadden Sea waters, 13% in Lower Saxony, and the remainder in German sectors where Schleswig-Holstein saw a 74.5% increase and Helgoland experienced a 37% decline.
• Experts credit coordinated protections under the National Park Wadden Sea designation for creating secure breeding and resting habitats.
• Biannual aerial surveys deliver relative trend data, and scientists emphasize that detailed studies of seal movements are needed for accurate absolute estimates.