Seals at Donna Nook

[gentle lemur]

British people don't think of the UK as the home of large numbers of large mammals: but we have 40% of the world population of grey seals and at this time of year they are pupping. Most live around the Scottish islands, but in recent years a large colony has grown up near Grimsby on the east coast of England at Donna Nook NNR (National Nature Reserve). This wide beach is also used a bombing range by the RAF, but they only drop dummy bombs at this time of year . Last year 1200 pups were born at Donna Nook, which means that at least 3000 seals were present at this time.
I visited last Sunday for the first time this year. It is an amazing experience to be able to walk among large wild mammals like these. You have to be careful as the females can be very protective of their pups and the males can be aggressive. But with care you can approach to about 5 metres.





This old bull had been fighting off rivals for the affections of a cow. He was a pretty big animal, probably weighing about 250 kg (1/4 tonne) so I didn't get too close.
At the water's edge many younger animals congregate, includng a few common seals (known as harbour seals in the USA). This one was very small, less than 1 metre long, so I assume it is one of this year's pups (less than 6 months old as this species breeds in mid-summer).



Nikon D300 with 300mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor, TC1.4 converter and monopod.

Alan

 

[^Chris^]

Nice pictures, Alan.
I've been to Donna Nook plenty of times, it's a great place. We usually go in January to see if we can see any snow buntings on the beach. Now and again Lapland Bunting turn up but I've never seen one.

I took this seal photo a year or two back- an amazing privelige to get so close to wild animals.

 

[gentle lemur]

Nice pictures, Alan.
I've been to Donna Nook plenty of times, it's a great place. We usually go in January to see if we can see any snow buntings on the beach. Now and again Lapland Bunting turn up but I've never seen one.

I took this seal photo a year or two back- an amazing privelige to get so close to wild animals.

I just missed a snow bunting photo this year, one landed a few feet away from me while I was watching a seal - but I couldn't get my camera trained in time. I really like your seal shot, but to be fair I like almost all of the shots I've seen from Donna Nook.
Do you remember a thread we had last year about wild places where you can get a zoo quality experience? Donna Nook is even better than that. The whole place is magical, I think it's the sound of the seals and the wind that adds the extra dimension.

Alan