A ANIMAL lover has set up a group on Facebook to encourage people to share their sightings of marine mammals off the Cumbrian coast.

Sarah Neill said the aim of the page was to aid efforts to protect creatures such as whales and dolphins.

Seals are a popular feature of South Walney Nature Reserve, Barrow. The reserve is home to the only grey seal colony in Cumbria.

"It's just an easy way for people to post their sightings and to generate interest as well," said Miss Neill, Cumbria coordinator for Sea Watch.

She said there was perhaps more wildlife off the coast of Cumbria than people realised.

"We've had minke whales, we've had fin whales, we've had a sei whale," she said.

"It just goes to show that we've got all this marine life out there, even ones that you don't typically see."

The Sea Watch Foundation is a national marine environmental charity working to improve the conservation of whales, dolphins and porpoises in the seas around Britain and Ireland.

The conservation of any wild animal is largely dependent upon continuous monitoring.

Without such data it is impossible to assess and amend their status on a regular basis.

Monitoring populations also enables the identification of general distribution patterns, important areas for different species, behavioural responses to human activities and effects on reproduction.

Miss Neill, from Grange, said Sea Watch was encouraging people to become sea-watchers themselves.

"This is where you carry out an effort-based watch," she said.

"You're going to watch the sea for at least an hour, maybe do a two-hour watch.

"Even if you do a sea watch and you don't see anything, that data is really important.

"The Roundhouse on Walney Island have offered a venue for systematic watches. Obviously we can't do anything like that while we're in lockdown."

On the 'Cumbria Whale and Dolphin Watch' Facebook page, people are able to post information about their sightings. It is necessary to include certain information, such as times, location and number of animals seen.

This information can then be added to the Sea Watch Foundation database for Cumbria.