Seal Success!

You can't see me, right?

Let sleeping babies...sleep

Yes, you can come in!

Success; a pup after three weeks (moulted)

Inner Farne beach taken over in late December

Staple colony strong as ever

Farnes pup population increasing (1952-2013)

Thursday 16th January comments: It was another successful year for the grey Seals of the Farne islands as the population remained strong, with a total of 1,575 pups born across the islands. The first pup was discovered on the South Wamses beach on 28th September and thereafter pupping increased with a peak in the second week of November.

Staple Island has cemented itself as the number one nursery, with 497 pups born on that island; the third consecutive year it has been the number one colony. Nearby South Wamses had 382 whilst Brownsman had 368 pups born.

Individual islands:

Staple island 497
South wamses 382
Brownsman 368
North Wamses 230
Northern hares 31
West Wideopens 43
Knoxes reef 15
Inner Farne 5
Big harcar 2
Longstone Main 2

Despite the storm surge in early December, the colonies were largely unaffected by the weather this autumn and although numbers still need to be crunched, it is expected mortality of young pups will be low.

Overall the final pup count finished on 1,575 and compares favourably with recent years (the third consecutive year the islands have produced over 1,500 pups). The Farnes Seals are doing well and if you don’t believe me, my advice is to visit and see (and smell) for yourself!