Seal lovers have criticised a video in which students unintentionally frightened a pod of around 40 seals in Cornwall and described the moment as "special".
The footage, captured at a location in Cornwall, showed seals stampeding out of a Cornish cave. Experts have said the animals would have experienced huge stress and entered a state of "sheer panic".
Seal lovers and experts say the incident, which would have meant the public ignoring signs specifically devised to protect the seals, shows the sad reality of seal disturbance as seals rush to safety away from humans.
Sue Sayer, founder and director of Seal Research Trust, has spent thousands of hours observing seals in the wild over more than two decades. She said that before the video clip, the seals would have been peaceful and digesting their food away from people. Those who captured the footage appeared completely unaware of the harm done.
"This video is eye-catching and shows the sad reality of serious unintentional disturbance of seals," she explained. "Seals that were sleeping peacefully, resting and digesting their food in a cave away from human activity are scared into complete panic by the sudden appearance of people in their space.
"Like us their panic response is to release cortisol and thyroxine, raised breathing and heart rates preparing their bodies for flight and wasting energy. As the red mist prevails, the panic spreads to other seals who are scared into rushing to the safety of the sea and away from the people."
Sue explained that research shows this can happen as often as every 1.6 minutes for seals at these sensitive sites. "It is like a stranger walking into your bedroom every few minutes during the night, all night, throughout peak season," she added.
"In waking panic, you might run out of the bedroom door, or worse still, jump out of your bedroom window. Either way you would be impacted by being exhausted, sleep-deprived, and be at risk of invisible broken bones (which in seals, jaws and ribs would not be able to heal)."
Andy Rogers, a volunteer with Seal Research Trust, was concerned about how the people captured the footage in the first place. "The people from the mentioned university who captured the footage have totally ignored site-specific signage and crossed a rope fence to stand directly above the seals who were not in a cave as mentioned but resting on the sand outside the caves," he said.
"The result of their actions has caused a major disturbance incident with the seals panicking and stampeding towards the sea."
The woman who spotted them, and had never seen seals before, said: "It was definitely the highlight of the entire trip. I had only expected to maybe see one or two seals, if any at all. When I finally saw how many seals were there, I was absolutely shocked. It was so special seeing them. It felt unreal."
She added: "Being able to observe them so closely, without barriers or enclosures, made the experience feel truly special. "I was extremely happy and felt very lucky to witness it. I still feel the same way since." The video she captured went viral with nearly 1,000,000 views and hundreds of comments, sparking fears about more people trying to visit the location.
The Defra Marine and Coastal Wildlife Code recommends keeping a 100 metre distance at a minimum from seals, keeping quiet and moving slowly. The Seal Alliance also has a petition asking the government to act on advice from its own political inquiry and scientific bodies to better protect seals from intentional disturbance.
You can see and sign the campaign, here.
Seal Lovers Criticise Public Over Causing Panic Stampede