https://doi.org/10.82144/b134bfc2 https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/431 https://www.gbif.org/dataset/7b3b8c69-23a5-43c1-bca0-2e719ba7dc6f https://obis.org/dataset/55fdf06d-205c-4de0-80d5-4e9c355b54ee Michelle Cronin Coastal & Marine Resources Centre, University College Cork Primary contact unknown@dummy.com OBIS-SEAMAP Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University

A328 LSRC building Durham NC 27708 US

seamap-contact@duke.edu https://seamap.env.duke.edu OBIS-SEAMAP Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University

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seamap-contact@duke.edu https://seamap.env.duke.edu distributor Michelle Cronin Coastal & Marine Resources Centre, University College Cork Primary contact unknown@dummy.com owner 2025-07-31 eng Original provider: National Parks and Wildlife Service, Dept. of Environment, Heritage and Local Government Dataset credits: National Parks and Wildlife Service, Dept. of Environment, Heritage and Local Government<BR> Michelle Cronin, Coastal & Marine Resources Centre, University College Cork Abstract: The status of Ireland's harbor seal <i>Phoca vitulina vitulina</i> population is poorly understood. The most recent national population estimate dates back to the breeding season in 1978 and did not cover the entire coastline. Reliable up-to-date information on the abundance and distribution of harbor seals in Ireland is necessary to assess the conservation status of the species and for the effective identification, management and monitoring of special areas of conservation required for harbor seals under the European Union Habitats Directive. To provide comprehensive current information on Ireland's harbor seal population, a geographically extensive survey was conducted along the coastline of the Republic of Ireland during the species' annual moult in August 2003. This complemented a similar survey of Northern Ireland, which was conducted in 2002. Using thermal imaging technology, haul-out groups of harbor seals and grey seals <i>Halichoerus grypus</i> were identified from the air, aerial-counts were obtained and compared with simultaneous ground-count data from selected sites. Harbor seal distribution recorded during the 2003 moult season was concentrated in the south-west, west and north-west of the country. This national survey yielded a minimum population estimate for the Republic of Ireland of 2905 harbor seals, delivering an effective baseline for current and future population research. Occurrence GBIF Dataset Type Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_type.xml Observation GBIF Dataset Subtype Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_subtype.xml Marine Biology Visual sighting harbour seal minimum population estimate census thermal imagery Aircraft Sightings N/A This dataset also includes ancillary grey seal data, showing summer terrestrial distribution of grey seals. This data cannot be used for estimating population size of grey seals as this is conducted during the winter breeding season. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) 4.0 License. https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/431 Oceans,Ireland -10.619641 -5.994215 55.450606 51.468578 2003-08-12 2003-08-20 Scientific names are based on the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). species Halichoerus grypus Atlantic gray seal species Phoca vitulina Harbor seal notPlanned Michelle Cronin Coastal & Marine Resources Centre, University College Cork Primary contact unknown@dummy.com NA NA NA Michelle Cronin owner NA zd_431 2025-07-31T14:17:35-04:00 dataset Cronin, M. 2011. Harbor seals in Republic of Ireland in Aug 2003. Version 1.0.0. Dataset published in OBIS-SEAMAP. https://doi.org/10.82144/b134bfc2. OBIS-SEAMAP Dataset Page UTF-8 Interactive map https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/431 FGDC Metadata UTF-8 XML https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/431/fgdc EML Metadata UTF-8 XML https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/431/eml OBIS-SEAMAP zd_431 zd_431 M. Cronin, C. Duck, O. O. Cadhla, R. Nairn, D. Strong and C. O'Keeffe. 2007. An assessment of population size and distribution of harbour seals in the Republic of Ireland during the moult season in August 2003. Journal of Zoology: Vol. 273 pp. 131-139.