The Atlantic Grey Seal is found on rocky shores in the South West, large numbers can be seen on Lundy Island and the Isles of Scilly. Accredited boat operators provide close-up views without causing damage. Seals have their pups on secluded beaches in Autumn (keep well clear!) but can often be seen swimming close to shore through the year.
The South West is the hub of a wheel of seal movements between Wales, Ireland and Brittany. Britain has the majority of the world's population of this marine mammal.
Rocks used by Grey Seals to sunbathe and rest on are also used by seabirds such as Oyster Catchers and Shags.
Seals on the Exmoor Coast
The common seal, sometimes referred to as the harbor seal, feed on fish, both bottom-dwelling and free-swimming, and some invertebrates in narrow channels near the mouths of bays. At low tide they haul out onto (rocky islets and reefs or sand banks to rest and digest their food. Common seals are gregarious, preferring to live in groups, probably made up of related animals. Seals give birth during June and July. The single pup, which is able to swim within just a few minutes after its birth, suckles for between 3-6 weeks.
The grey seal may forage further out at sea than the common seal. Grey seals feed on a wide variety of fish and some invertebrates. Adults congregate to form herds during the late summer to autumn breeding season.
Unlike common seals, the single grey seal pup is born in white lanugo (natal coat). Lactation lasts for 2-3 weeks before the mother abandons the pup, around which time it begins to moult its lanugo. The pup spends another two weeks or so on land while it moults before entering the sea when it must learn to forage efficiently before its body fat reserves are depleted. Recent research by the UK Sea Mammal Research Unit suggests that grey seal pup mortality is high, with approximately 50 per cent of newborn pups dying during the first year.
Grey Seal Pup
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