Marine_Scotland_FishDAC_12534 eng dataset Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) +44 (0)300 244 4000 marinescotland@gov.scot pointOfContact 2025-03-25 MEDIN Discovery Metadata Version 2.3.7 urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4326 OGP Harbour and grey seals: distribution maps for Scotland- GIS data layers 2025-03-06 publication Marine_Scotland_FishDAC_12534 Scotland is a globally important population centre for both harbour (Phoca vitulina) and grey seals (Halichoerus grypus). Up-to-date estimates of at-sea distribution are an important resource for marine spatial planning, particularly given the projected scale of decommissioning of oil and gas infrastructure and construction of offshore wind farms in Scottish waters in coming years. Previous distribution estimates were limited by a lack of tracking data for both species in Shetland, and estimates for Shetland were therefore made based on modelled habitat preference relationships of seals tagged in Orkney and the north coast of mainland Scotland. To address this knowledge gap, GPS satellite telemetry devices were deployed on harbour and grey seals in Shetland in 2022, funded by the Scottish Government Marine Directorate, NatureScot and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). The Scottish Government Marine Directorate funded the incorporation of these new harbour seal tracking data and recent haulout counts to update at-sea density estimates for harbour seals. Here we present updated at-sea distribution maps for both harbour and grey seals hauling out in Scotland, taking advantage of various improvements to the existing methods (Carter et al., 2022) funded by NERC INSITE II project EcoSTAR (with support from NERC National Capability - National Public Good funding). Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) +44 (0)300 244 4000 Mailpoint 11, Area 1B South, Victoria Quay Edinburgh EH6 6QQ United Kingdom marinescotland@gov.scot pointOfContact Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) +44 (0)300 244 4000 Mailpoint 11, Area 1B South, Victoria Quay Edinburgh EH6 6QQ United Kingdom marinescotland@gov.scot custodian Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) +44 (0)300 244 4000 Mailpoint 11, Area 1B South, Victoria Quay Edinburgh EH6 6QQ United Kingdom marinescotland@gov.scot distributor Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) dr60@st-andrews.ac.uk originator unknown Marine Environmental Data and Information Network Habitat extent SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary 2018-12-12 revision Species distribution GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2009-07-31 revision The following attribution statement must be used: Contains information from the Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. otherRestrictions no limitations to public access 200.00 eng biota -14.05939 -0.3209332 54.43328 61.0607 SeaDataNet vertical extent keywords 2010-01-01 revision The entire body of water between the bed and the atmosphere. 2022-12-21 2024-03-31 https://dx.doi.org/10.7489/12534-1 DOI:https://dx.doi.org/10.7489/12534-1 TBC download TBC download TBC download TBC download dataset The updated maps were generated using regional habitat preference relationships derived from the new tracking data, in combination with previously used tracking data and the most recent available estimates of seal abundance (haulout counts). The downloadable content associated with this report is a series of Geographic Information Service (GIS) data layers with relative (percentage of at-sea population) and absolute (number of animals) estimates of harbour and grey seal at-sea density on a 5 km by 5 km grid for seals hauling out in Scotland. Note: Please refer to the associated readme file for advice on interpretation and use of the data.