Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
How many Common Seals are there in the Wash? Is the population in danger of extinction? Conflicting estimates of the size of this stock have attracted considerable public attention since the Home Secretary refused to grant hunting licences in 1974 in spite of the fact that 400 could legally be culled under the Conservation of Seals Act 1970. Dr C. F. Summers of the Seals Research Division (SRD) of the Institute for Marine Environmental Research and Dr M. D. Mountford of the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, both of the Natural Environment Research Council, explain the basis on which population estimates are made.
