Species - Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus)
Location - Donna Nook, East Lincolnshire
Grid Ref - TF42426 99901
Just like the Red Deer rut, there are a few wildlife spectacles in the UK not to be missed, with the Grey Seals at Donna Nook being one of them. Every November and December large numbers of Grey Seals come to this coast line to give birth to their pups in the sand dunes, which are only a few feet away from a public footpath. There is a free car park and it’s only a short walk and you are onto the beach where the seals are. There is a fence between humans and seals but some of the seals are only feet away from the fence, so for a wildlife photographer it is a perfect location. The area is a military training area and trespassing is strictly prohibited on the beach which is good news for the seals, but I have heard some horror stories of people with dogs getting too close to the seals and inadvertently forcing the seals into the sea where the pups drown, but I didn’t see this on my visit.
As usual I was the first one there and unlucky enough to see the dead bodies of 2 newly born seals that had frozen to death. I often wonder why Grey Seals give birth at this time of year, which seems totally out of sync with the rest of nature. Eventually the Wildlife Trust Ranger appeared and bagged the bodies; the first one he was able to grab over the fence as the mother had abandoned it, but the second one was a bit more difficult as the mother was still trying to nurse it, and it was heartbreaking to watch.
There were plenty of new born pups here, all scoring maximum points on the cuteness scale. In and amongst the pups and mums were larger males defending their patches, and quite a few fights between their bulbous bodies. The highlight for me though was actually watching a seal give birth, then watched how it was cleaned and directed to the milk source.
I managed to get a few decent shots before I went for a walk on the coastline where I saws an abundance of waders, including Redshank, Curlew and Oystercatcher. A lovely place to visit and highly recommended for anyone with kids.
