Seal Island

Seal Island or Western Carracks lies approximately 3.5 miles from St Ives along the West Coast and is home to a colony of Grey Atlantic Seals. 'Carracks' is Cornish for rocks and the Island is just that, however it is very special as it is home to these magnificent creatures. They are a protected species with numbers across the world currently at around 300,000. They can be spotted mainly on the west coasts of England and Scotland as well as the Eastern shores of Canada and in the Scandanavian Baltic. The UK population accounts for under half that of the worldwide one at approximately 112,000.  

On our way, you will see beautiful beaches, the NCI station (National Coastguard Institution) and the Tate Gallery. We also see the famous rock formation known as Mans Head - you will see why it is called this!

At Seal Island, we will spend enough time for you to take some photographs and observe the seals in their natural habitat. Of course, we are sometimes lucky and see dolphins along the way and the Skipper will always allow time to observe their magic. We are passionate about wildlife and the marine life in our local waters and we ask that you observe the instruction on the boat when observing the seals and any other marine life. Whilst we do get closer to the seals than is possible by land, the quality of photographs we have seen from cameras with wide lens and zoom is incredible. That said, the majority of our passengers just use mobile phones and the photography is just as memorable.