Escapes and Photography: Norfolk Trip 2 - Grey Seal Pups On The Norfolk Coast

As promised, here is the second part of my Norfolk trip which even the bad weather could not dampen the experience of seeing the beautiful Grey Seal pups. I had the luxury of visiting both Horsey Gap and Blakeney Point and these are just a few of the photos that were taken. They are far from perfect due to the weather but the seal pups are cute :) Hope you enjoy looking at them.

They are very cute. This next one looks just like a puppy. Look at that little face!

I think this mother is trying to hide behind it's pup :)

A suckling pup. More can be seen in a video I will add to this blog.

I can't believe I lived in Norfolk for 6 years and never once went to Blakeney Point! I only went along the coast as far as Sheringham Park, which by the way, is also a beautiful place to visit. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sheringham-park/ If you can only go once a year, make that trip at the end of May or the beginning of June when the Rhododendrons are out. The views are beautiful with carpets of colour from the view towers along the walks.

At Blakeney, the last mile of the beach is closed to the public during birthing and mating season. The best way to see the seals, is by boat.

There are a few boat trips that go out to the point but do check dates as during the Winter they don't run as often as they do in the Summer months and they have to go by the tide. I joined 'Beans Boat Trips' http://www.beansboattrips.co.uk/ and it only cost me £10 which I thought was really good. I can't fault these people at all. They were really good and explained all about the area and the nature reserve and were happy to answer any questions you had, of which I had plenty :)

The old lifeboat station which is now National Trust's visitors centre. I am looking forward to coming back in the Summer months to explore this area better. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blakeney/

This whole nature reserve is owned and looked after by the National Trust and has been since 1912. The area is very good for wildlife and is a 4 mile stretch of Sand-dunes and shingles which I am hoping to come back and walk when it is all open again. The reserve also includes salt marshes and mudflats which all appeal to the large amounts of wildlife that visit this area every year.

This year at Blakeney they are set to break records if the new pup numbers keep going up as they have been. Last weekend when I was there, the numbers doubled overnight! I think this is brilliant! I would have loved to see them from the main land but the last mile is closed off for good reasons. A female can abandon her pup if people get too close plus the Seals don't just give birth at this time. Breeding and birthing times for the Grey Seals start at the beginning of November and carries on until the end of January.

Some people see cuteness and think it's all right to go up to them but it is not. They are wild animals and they need their space and to be left alone. I have seen a few crazy photos of people taking their children up to seals and pups to take a photo and joggers jumping over them. I guess they haven't seen one of the male bulls go for another. If they had, they would stay well back! This next photo shows one of the bulls. Just to give you an idea of the size of these animals. A male bull weighs around 240kg. That's 37 stone and a female weighs around 24 stone but her weight will rise dramatically while she is pregnant.

This bull was rolling about all over the beach.

Here you can see the difference between the male (bull) and the female (cow) in their faces. The female has a softer face and the male looks more rugged.

Both at Blakeney Point and Horsey Gap there are ways of seeing the seals without intruding too much. Enjoy them from a distance and take a longer lens if you want those close up cute photos.

This next little pup at Blakeney Point fell asleep and woke up with the tide coming in. Grey Seal pups are not waterproof when they are first born. They are born with a creamy fur coat which they will lose at about the same time they are weaned from their mothers, which is around 3-4 weeks of age. At this time, they will weigh 3 times the weight they did when they were first born.

This one had just come into the world while I was at Horsey Gap.

Here is the mother looking very tired!

The bond between mother and pup is very easy to see.

I love the little pups face in this next photo. It's a little like 'Mum, my hair is fine for the camera, stop it!' :)

This was taken from the Sand-dunes at Horsey Gap

I sat in the sand-dunes at Horsey watching how they interacted with each other. It was so lovely to see and it was something I thought I could not capture in a photos so I switched my camera into the record mode and recorded it. Apologies for cutting the sound out yet again. The wind was so strong on the coast that morning but it was the only chance I had to record them as I was leaving for Warwickshire an hour later. It was my last early morning walk before leaving which was from the lovely Horsey Mill http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/horsey-windpump/ to Horsey Gap to see the seals.

The milk the pups receive from their mothers is full of fat and will help them to survive when they start to fend for themselves. Once the pup is around 3 to 4 weeks of age, the female will become fertile again and will mate with a male.

The male seals (bulls) will come ashore and try to hold an area of the beach to themselves. They are very territorial and will fight any other male who enters their space. There was a fight as I was leaving but time was running short and I will have to return in a couple of weeks when I take my mother back home again.

The fighting can also be stressful for mother and pup as they try to keep away from the them. Most mammals breed at different times of the year to birthing but not the Grey Seals. A female will become fertile as soon as she has weaned the young pup off her and will be fertilised very soon after but she will not become pregnant for a few months. The fertilised egg lays dormant through the Winter months, not attaching itself to the wall of the womb until Spring so you can either think of a Grey Seal as being pregnant for 11 months or 8 months, depending on how you calculate it. Nature is quite amazing!

There are two types of Seals along the Norfolk coast. You have the Common Seal and the Grey Seal. Grey seals tend to be larger. Common seals can often be seen with their heads and tails up rather than resting on the ground and are more aggressive then the Grey Seals. Once on shore for a length of time, the seals skin will dry out and change and then you might see that Common Seal's have more spots, which are smaller than that of the Grey Seals. There is also a difference in the face. The nostrils are very different. They Grey Seal has a nick name 'The hook-nosed sea-pig' and are shaped similar to a 'W'. The common seals have a smaller head and a nose more like a 'V' .

I am not quite sure why they are called Grey Seals as they come in a selection of shades and colours.

I will leave you with a few more of my photos from last weekend but not before thanking http://www.beansboattrips.co.uk/ for there excellent tour of Blakeney Point.

The National Trust at Blakeney Point for their amazing work protecting this part of the coast and all the wildlife that visit. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blakeney/

Also 'Friends of Horsey Seals' who are a group of volunteers who do an amazing job in all weather trying to protect an area of the coast and all the seals that come ashore there. http://www.friendsofhorseyseals.co.uk/about%20us.htm

Thank you all for all your information and kindness which helped me write this blog. I will be back very soon. In drier weather I hope :)