Yorkshire’s marine and coastal wildlife can be sensitive to our leisure activities, both at sea and on the shore. This includes whales, dolphins, porpoise, seals and seabirds.
We work with a wide range of partners to record, monitor and manage recreational pressures on marine and coastal wildlife. You can help by recording activities you see along the coast, and telling us if any wildlife was disturbed.
Any significant incidents which involve animals being injured, harassed or repeatedly disturbed should be reported to the Police via 101. Please quote Operation Seabird.
Learn more about our work to monitor recreational pressures, or use the form below to record your observation.
Monitoring Recreational PressuresRecreational Activity Reporting Form
Please provide as much detail as possible on this form
Guidance Notes:
Disturbance can be classed as any activity which interrupts the natural behaviour of an animal
For the purposes of this research:
- High disturbance = Extreme change in behaviour. In seabirds this might be a flight of more than 50m or agitated behaviour e.g. flying around the cliffs for more than 2 minutes
- Moderate disturbance = Noticeable change in behaviour. In marine mammals this might be a change in direction or movements, to avoid humans.
- Slight disturbance = Small change in behaviour. This could be little change in movement, but increased awareness and alert to human presence.
- None = No change in behaviour