It’s been a record year for grey seal populations at the South Walney Nature Reserve near Barrow in the UK where numbers have just reached a total of 563 seals counted, marking an upward trend for the species that was last counted at 518 in 2021. Officials at Cumbria Wildlife Trust have called this count “wonderful news” and a landmark result for the wildlife charity who can now hold the growth of the grey seal colony at South Walney up as a “great conservation success story.” The total counted this season is a stark increase on the 360 counted back in 2018 and the 483 in 2019, and indicates an upwards trend in population numbers.