Grey seals, Horsecastle Bay

Stopped off for a run around St. Abb’s Head to break the journey up to Edinburgh and surprised to come across several seals hauled up on the beach with their pups.

They were Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus), and were seemingly unperturbed by the closeness of the popular footpath.

The pups were no longer cuddly fluffy balls but had not yet lost their white coats. Apparently they will stay on land until they have lost their puppy fur by which time they will have trebled their body weight.

Greys are the largest of the two types of seals resident around the British Isles. There are about 120,000 of them, representing about 40% of the world’s population¹Grey seals (2020). Grey seal | The Wildlife Trusts. [online] Wildlifetrusts.org. Available at: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/marine/marine-mammals-and-sea-turtles/grey-seal [Accessed 3 Dec. 2021]..

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  Grey seals (2020). Grey seal | The Wildlife Trusts. [online] Wildlifetrusts.org. Available at: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/marine/marine-mammals-and-sea-turtles/grey-seal [Accessed 3 Dec. 2021].