Twin-tastic

One of our seal twins (David Steel)

Time to check its weight (David Steel)

Healthy at 31kg (David Steel)

Lazy days for our Seal pups (David Steel)

2nd coat pups now spread all over the colonies (David Steel)

Sunday 11th November comments: It’s been a big weekend on the seal colonies on the Farne Islands as the team have been out counting over the two days and we’ve now broken the 1,000 pup barrier! The settled weather allowed us to venture out onto the islands to continue the survey work and with 254 new pups sprayed we have now reached an impressive 1,141 pups.

Staple Island boasts the largest number with 327 pups whilst South Wamses is hot on the heels with a noteworthy 325 pups. Births (and counting) will continue over the next three weeks as we aim to break the 1,500 pup barrier for the second consecutive year.

BIG news about our twins – as both are doing well and are so close to independence as they reach twenty days of age (that mother wants a gold medal!). During this sealing mission and with the help of the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU), a DNA sample has been taken from both pups so we can prove without doubt that we do have a pair of Grey Seal twins – the first ever wild documented occurrence.

Even bigger news – both pups were male! As part of the process, we also took their body weights which are hovering around the 31kg mark – so a healthy return and hopefully they’ll be heading for a huge success. The Farnes has certainly produced some noticeable highlights this year and this is one of them.