One of the advantages to living in Newark is how near various bits of countryside are. This is Donna Nook, on the North East coast of Lincolnshire. For most of the year, it is home to an RAF bombing practice range. For three months, it is home to grey seals who use it to give birth to their pups. Almost all the adults in the photos are females, 'cows'. The males, 'bulls', tend to stay just off shore and mate with the cows when they go back to sea, a surprisingly short time after giving birth.
The seals start arriving at the end of October – we went on the 17th November. Although about five hundred pups had been born in the previous week, it was still not the peak period for arrivals (both of adults and new births) and there should be even more hundreds of seals there next weekend…
Normally, Donna Nook, a salt marsh on the North East coast of Lincolnshire, is used for RAF bombing practice
From the end of October to the start of January, it is where grey seals come to give birth and mate
.. lots and lots of seals
They are used to the human visitors who come to see them, and some of the seals come right up to the fencing that protects both sides from the other
Mother and baby
Mother and baby
Some move around together
But most adult females are sleeping, either waiting to give birth or recovering from having done so
One of the pups
Both do lots of sleeping!
Pups are fed in short sessions for only a few days before they are left to make their own way to the sea
Note the placenta in the background
Some manage to combine sleeping and feeding!
Arguments can breakout over space
.. but these are usually settled by some roaring, and one side goes away
.. and find somewhere else to sleep!
A recent mother rests
One born an hour or two earlier – note umbilical cord – sleeping by its mum
