Seal pups killed

A report sent to the procurator fiscal has resulted in a man bieng charged with killing 18 grey seal pups on the isle of East Linga, three miles east of Whalsay.

SNH workers carrying out their annual survey of grey seal pups saw two men acting suspiciously on the island; police officers then went to East Linga where they discovered the bloody corpses of 18 seals, some of which appeared to have been clubbed to death.

East Linga is one of six pupping sites surveyed annually by SNH to keep an eye on how the grey seal population around the islands is doing. Concern about seals has grown recently with a startling decline in common seal numbers over the past decade.

Last week several groups lobbied the Scottish Parliament for a change in the law on killing seals, saying the Conservation of Seals Act gave inadequate protection.

Category: Conservation