30th of November: Fifty a day

The rate of Grey Seal pup births on Blakeney Point is slowing down, but has still been just over fifty a day with 161 births since the last count three days ago.

Photograph by Carl Brooker

This take us to a total of 2,279 pups born so far this autumn and there is still another month left of the pupping season.

27th of November: Over 2,000 pup births

Today's pup count on Blakeney Point takes the running total to 2,118 pup births so far this season.

Photography by Ian Ward

21st of November: Pup numbers double in one week

Seven days after our last Grey Seal count, pup numbers have more than doubled: with 816 born in the last week, there have now been 1,546 pup births. Today's count also recorded 706 bulls and 1,849 cows. That's a total of over 4,000 seals currently on Blakeney Point...

                     Bulls   Cows   Pups
     Zone 1      272      575      653
     Zone 2      149      559      361
     Zone 3      205      484      339
     Zone 4        57      226      192
     Zone 7        22          5          0
     Zone 8          1          0          0
     Total         706    1849    1546

The data shows that seals are spreading further east, having crept into zones 7 and 8 since last week's count. See map below.

Zone 1: Beach west of Gap [no access 25th Oct - 25th Jan]

Zone 2: Far/Middle/Near Point and Stanley's Cockle Bight [no access 25th Oct - 25th Jan]
Zone 3: Beach between Gap and Long Hills [no access 25th Oct - 25th Jan]
Zone 4: Yellow dunes, Great Sandy Low and Beach Way [no access 25th Oct - 25th Jan]
Zone 5: Grey dunes and Landing Ridge
Zone 6: Long Hills and Yankee Ridge
Zone 7: Beach east of Long Hills
Zone 8: Ridge east of Long Hills including the Hood

Bull following a fight (Carl Brooker)

Pup about to suckle from its mother (Carl Brooker)

Snoozing pup (Carl Brooker)

The very early pups, born in October, have now moulted and will soon be starting to disperse. Pups are fed on their mothers rich milk for up to three weeks before being left entirely to their own devices. Most weaned pups tend to laze around on the Point for a couple of weeks, before their instincts lead them to the sea to begin fishing for themselves.

- Ajay, Ranger

14th of November: 700 pups and a Heinkel

Today's seal count recorded 722 Grey Seal pups, particularly high for mid-November. Over the last week, the beach has got a lot busier, with 1093 adult Grey Seals (plus 7 Common Seals) alongside the pups.

	Bulls	Cows	Pups
Zone 1	151	296	376
Zone 2	89	200	176
Zone 3	147	167	147
Zone 4	16	28	23
Total:	403	691	722

Dreaming of fish! (Ajay Tegala) 

Newborn pup (Ajay Tegala) 

Snoozing pup (Ajay Tegala) 

Young pup (Ajay Tegala)

Over the last couple of days, a number of pups have been born in the flat area near our mobile hide, allowing walkers decent views...

The best way to see the pups, however, is definitely on a boat trip that go to the end of the Point where there are now several obliging pups. 

As a consequence of tidal erosion to the foreshore, what look like the remains of an old military aircraft have been unearthed from under the shingle...

We strongly suspect that it is part of the Heinkel-111 German bomber that crash-landed near the Point in 1940.

Erosion to the beach near the Long Hills...

- Ajay (Ranger)

5th of November: Over Eighty

Today's Grey Seal pup count takes the running total to over 80 births so far this autumn. Alongside two juvenile Common Seals, a total of 597 adult Grey and 84 pups were recorded on Blakeney Point this afternoon.

	Bulls	Cows	Pups
Zone 1	100	228	55
Zone 2	49	50	19
Zone 3	94	73	10
Zone 4	3	0	0
Total:	246	351	84

When conducting pup counts, we divide the Point into eight zones, as listed below.

Zone 1: Beach west of Gap [no access 25th Oct - 25th Jan]
Zone 2: Far/Middle/Near Point and Stanley's Cockle Bight [no access 25th Oct - 25th Jan]
Zone 3: Beach between Gap and Long Hills [no access 25th Oct - 25th Jan]
Zone 4: Yellow dunes, Great Sandy Low and Beach Way [no access 25th Oct - 25th Jan]
Zone 5: Grey dunes and Landing Ridge
Zone 6: Long Hills and Yankee Ridge
Zone 7: Beach east of Long Hills
Zone 8: Ridge east of Long Hills including the Hood

Map showing Blakeney Point pup count zones - click to enlarge

It is only in the last five years that the rookery has spread beyond zones 1 and 2, into 3 and 4, and only in the last two years that pups have been born in zones 6, 7 and 8. Funnily enough, the first Grey Seal pups ever born on the Point (in autumn 1988) were on the Landing Ridge, in zone 5, as were the sporadic pups born in the early/mid 1990s. By the late 1990s, pups were regularly being born in zone 1, forming a rookery at the very start of the 21st century.

One of the younger pups (Ajay Tegala)

One of the slightly older pups (Ajay Tegala)

Please remember that the best way to see the seals and their pups is on the ferry trips that go out of Morston Quay. To avoid disturbance and potential pup deaths, please stay out of fenced areas and keep dogs on short leads at all times.

- Ajay, Ranger

2nd of November: Spreading seals

The Grey Seal rookery on Blakeney Point continues to spread eastwards along the beach. Today's count took the total pup births to 17. Adults are now starting to move into the dunes and salt marsh. Over the next two weeks, pup numbers will explode. Watch this space for updates.

Grey Seals on the beach this afternoon (Ajay Tegala)

Please do head over to our web-site for more information and a guide to responsible viewing.