Guest Blog – Local Grey Seal lover, our neighbour, Rachel Jones writes about seal pups and how to enjoy nature responsibly at Cwm Connell:

Here in west Wales, we’re lucky to share our coastline with hundreds of grey seals who haul out each autumn to have their pups.  Pupping season runs from mid-August to mid-November and one of the best places to spot them is on a walk around Cemaes head, where grey seals haul out in the protected coves at the base of the cliffs (bring your binoculars and stay away from the edge!). Female seals have a fixed pattern of markings which can be used to tell them apart. 

Pups are fed incredibly rich milk by their mothers, around 60% fat, for just three short weeks and during that time the pups increase in weight from around 10 to 40kg. In human sizes that’s growing from approximately the weight of a one year old to the weight of a 12 year old! Seal mothers stay close to their pups, often watching over them from the safety of the water.  So if you see a pup all alone on a beach, don’t worry, it will likely have its mum close by.  

During this time, it’s incredibly important that seal pups are left alone on the land to sleep, digest their milk and grow, just like human babies, so to avoid disturbing them, please check for any signs warning of seal pups on the beach and give them at least 100m of space.  Please keep any dogs on leads, even well-behaved dogs, and avoid loud noises – seals have very good senses.  A seal mum won’t come out of the sea to feed their pup if they think there is any danger nearby, and remember, seal mums also need their rest too!  Although seal pups are covered in white fluffy hair (called lanugo), this only keeps them warm on land; it isn’t waterproof, so please don’t encourage a seal pup into the water.  

how to enjoy nature responsibly at Cwm Connell

H: Guest Blog – Local Grey Seal lover, our neighbour, Rachel Jones writes about seal pups and how to enjoy nature responsibly at Cwm Connell:

When the pup is close to weaning, it will start to moult its white fur, to reveal the individual pattern of markings beneath.   Its mum will also mate again, and so you might see some bull seals swimming around offshore.  These can be identified by their darker colouration, thick neck and wide nose.  Usually, one dominant male – called a Beachmaster – will look after a small group of females.  Female grey seals don’t eat while they are feeding their pups, so once their pup is weaned, and they have mated, they need to head out to sea to re-build their fat reserves.  As a result, seals have developed a type of reproduction called ‘delayed implantation’, where a fertilised embryo is held in suspended animation for 3 months, to give the female seal time to return to peak condition before starting the pregnancy. 

Weaning time is very hard for seal pups, because their mothers simply leave them!  Pups usually spend a few days on land waiting for her to come back, before hunger drives them out to sea in search of food.  This is where their fat reserves come in useful, because it can take time for them to work out what’s edible, and how to catch it.  Young seals usually eat small prey like crabs, mussels and sand eels while adults are opportunistic predators who eat a variety of fish, crabs, octopus and squid. 

There’s nothing more dramatic than a west Wales storm with our big seas and dramatic skies, but these can be exhausting for young seals and so you may come across one sheltering at our local beach.  Please give it the space it needs to rest.  If you see a seal who you think might be in trouble or unwell, we have local volunteer marine mammal medics who can check on it.  Please call British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) on their 24 hour hotline with the location of the seal and they will do the rest!  

All photos taken from over 100m with a telephoto lens by Steve Halton