UK Coastline Seals
Common and Grey Seals
There are two types of seal found around the British Isles; the common seal and the grey seal. Both are relatively common and are even seeing their numbers increase. Other species of seals, such as the harp seal, hooded seal and ringed seal are occasional visitors to UK shores, but sightings of these species are extremely rare.
During my 'Kintyre' vist last year, I had the opportunity of getting up close to both Grey and Common seals on a number of occasions. During high-tide, they would be a couple of miles offshore fishing, but when the tide receded, they would haul themselves out of the water on to the rocks at the low-water mark.
Unfortunately for me, the low-water mark was 100 meters out from the rocky shoreline, so I had no other option than to scramble over the rocks and gradually inch my way close enough to them. Trying to get my camera with 200-500mm lens attached, along with my other gear over these rocks (some were over 5ft high) was 'interesting' to say the least. Especially whilst doing my best to keep out of sight and not disturb them. I soon found, that around 25 feet was about as close as I could get, before they would show any concern at my presence.
Common Seals
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| Common Seal checking me out |
Having established a safe working distance, they soon settled down and allowed me to spend a magical couple of hours in their company.
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| Aware, but no longer bothered by my presence. |
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| Hauled up onto the rocks after a busy morning fishing. |
Common seals are, as the name suggests, the most common type of seal found around the UK. Although they are found all around the coastline of the British Isles, the highest populations are found around Scotland and along the eastern coast of England. They are also found throughout the colder waters of Northern Europe. They are non-migratory animals which spend their lives close to the shore, rarely venturing more than a few miles out to sea.
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| This was 100 mtrs offshore at low tide and very important that I did not disturb them. |
Common seals live in large groups and can make their home on a variety of different shorelines ranging from sandy beaches and sandbanks to fairly rocky and rugged coasts. However, common seals spend the majority of their time in the water and are capable of diving to depths of several hundred metres and can remain submerged for over half an hour.
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| Common Seal |
Common seals are not fussy predators and will hunt and eat any type of fish which is available. Species such as mackerel being taken as well as cod, haddock and plaice all being preyed upon. They will also feed on other food sources including squid, cuttlefish, crabs, lobsters and even marine birds at times.
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| All seals vary greatly in colour, ranging from grey through brown to black |
Females give birth in the summer months after a nine-month gestation period. While the young have an innate ability to swim they are still cared for by their mothers for around two months and rapidly put on weight due to the fatty milk the mother produces.
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| Common Seal with its Pup having a nap! |
Grey Seals
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| Grey Seal is much larger than the Common Seal, with a longer nose. |
The grey seal is a species which is found around the colder northern regions of the British Isles. There are notable breeding colonies in a number of places around the UK, such as off the coast of Scotland, Northumberland, Lincolnshire and the Orkney Islands. The grey seal is a species which grows to much larger sizes than the common seal, with males being substantially larger than females.
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| Colour variations are similar to the common seal. |
The main difference between the two species of seal is that the grey seal has a much longer snout than the common seal, and the nostrils of the grey seal are spaced far apart, while they are close together in the common seal.
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| a group of grey seals. |
Like the common seal the grey seal spends a lot of time in the water where they hunt for all manner of fish species but will also take squid, crustaceans and other sources of food which present themselves. They live in large colonies which can consist of thousands of individual seals, with seals hauling-out (leaving the water) to rest and bask after they have been hunting.
Females give birth in late summer/early autumn and care for their offspring for a number of weeks until the soft white fur of the young has been replaced by the adult’s waterproof fur. Numbers of grey seals are on the rise across the world, leading to concern in some quarters over the impact this will have on fish stocks.
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| Whilst seals will haul up out of the water, they will always remain very close to it. |
In Britain seals are protected through the Conservation of Seals Act 1970. However, seals are still culled in Britain with several hundred seals killed in Scotland by the owners of fish farms in order to protect their stocks. While a license is needed to cull seals in the UK it has been noted that seals can be culled all year round (including during the breeding season).
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| Although quite calm, these two were clearly letting me know that I was close enough! |
Fishermen and fish farmers in the United Kingdom do not need to report the shooting of seals under the "Fisheries Defence Clause" of the Conservation of Seals Act and therefore the scale of such killing in the U.K. is uncertain. Official statistics show that more than 60 grey and common seals were legally shot under licence by Scottish fishery boards during the year 2000, the most in more than a decade. Conservationists however say that the official figures hide the fact that a very large number of both species, estimated by some organisations as totalling several thousand seals, are shot under the Fisheries Defence Clause each year in Scotland alone!
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