16th of November: Pups and pods

Pup numbers are up again – from 265 on 13^th November to 436 on 15^th November.  The seals have spread east of the Gap now, with pups being born outside of the original fenced-off area and prospecting bulls and females moving east of the Gap as the rookery gets busier.  

 The rookery on Saturday 15th November

For this reason we have expanded the fencing to include Zone C as marked on the map below (shown in our blog 26th October).  As mentioned before the red dotted lines show suggested walking routes during the restricted period. These routes have various viewpoints to get good views of the seals.  Please obey all onsite signage and please stay out of fenced off areas. 

Zone A - no access at any time of year to protect hauled-out seals on the tip
Zone B - fenced off 1st November to 1st February to protect seal pups (core area)
Zone C - fenced off 15th November to 1st February to protect seal pups 

We’re getting a range of pup ages now.  Pups are generally born at night, but we came across this family actually on the Gap path.  The afterbirth you can see behind the pup shows that it must have been born recently. 

Bull, mother and pup on the Gap path

As the pups get older they lose the yellow-tinge to their coats which were stained whilst in the womb, revealing a pure white coat. 

Pup - approx. 5-6 days old

This pup below is playing with a washed up piece of driftwood.  As pups get older their co-ordination improves. 

Pup with driftwood

Whilst the focus is often (naturally!) on the very cute pups, it is still wonderful just to watch the adult seals close up.

Bull - this bull had a harem of 4 females

Female and pup - part of the harem

We are running seal events on the 28th and 29th of November and there are currently only 9 places left; see our web-site for full details and booking.

Things have been quieter on the bird front recently, but there was much excitement caused by a pod of Long-finned Pilot Whales last Sunday evening - a first for Norfolk.  Here's a video of them taken by one of our rangers George:

Spectacular sunset on the Point on Saturday

Sarah and Paul