The birth of INCA 30 years ago coincided with the start of the Tees Seals Research Project, which has monitored the health of the seal population on Teesside every year since. INCA has been managing this project for the last 27 of those 30 years with the help of a dedicated bunch of volunteers,w ho between them stand out in all weathers for fours hours a day, seven days a week, 13 weeks of the year monitoring seals.

Over this period the size of the seal population on Teesside has grown steadily, with both Harbour Seals and Grey Seals present throughout the year. The importance of Teesmouth as a breeding site for Harbour Seals was recognised when this species was added as an interest feature of the Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest in 2018.

The importance of our seals has long been recognised on Teesside but perhaps not further afield, so we were delighted to be invited to contribute an article on Teesmouth’s seals to the newsletter of the Mammal Society, which is the UK’s leading organisation for science-led mammal conservation. The article appeared in the Spring 2019 edition of Mammal News which can be viewed here.