Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust uses a non -invasive tracking technique called photo identification. I was lucky enough to accompany Sue Sayer and Kate Hockley while they completed their twice weekly seal surveys. Like human fingerprints each seal has a unique fur pattern which is analysed in order to differentiate seals from one another. The photos taken during surveys and by volunteers are analysed and distinctive patterns and shapes are noted down. These are entered as tags in the catalogues so that they can be easily identified when documenting the seals. In order to confirm seal identifications there need to be five exact fur pattern matches which are agreed between two experienced photo ID experts before it is recorded into the seal research trust database