SEAL numbers on South Walney have risen after fears the population was being hampered by dog disturbances.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust said the number of seals counted at South Walney Nature Reserve was up from the previous years.

The wildlife group said disturbances to the seals may have contributed to reduced numbers the previous year.

A spokesman said: "The good news is that, after a dip last year (probably due to some major disturbances) the seal colony has bounced back to high numbers.

"In March, our seal monitoring season came to an end, after surveying fortnightly since September. It was a good year for the colony, with seven pups born and a peak of 466 individuals observed hauled out on the reserve in January, counted using a drone.

"It's not our highest number yet at South Walney Nature Reserve - that was back in 2021 when a whopping 518 were recorded!

"Let's all work to keep disturbances away from these wonderful animals, so that the coming year proves equally successful for Cumbria's only grey seal colony."

Seals at South Walney are counted on land and by drone.

The highest number of seals counted in 2022/23 was 466 in January.

South Walney is home to the only grey seal colony in Cumbria.

There is no public access to the beaches and the spit at the end of the nature reserve where the seals come ashore at low tide.

Despite this, last year loose dogs on the nature reserve spooked seals and caused them to flee into the Irish Sea.

Two men with dogs were reportedly approaching the seals along the spit.

The dogs were seen to be off the lead and running around which caused all seals to flee into the water.

Georgia de Jong Cleyndert, marine conservation officer at Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said at the time: "It is likely that these incidents were from people who are unaware of the impact of disturbing the seals so it’s really important to raise awareness of the impacts. The seals can be seen from the lookouts at South Walney at high tide and online using Seal Cam."