Grey seal pup
Grey seal pups are born with a white coat known as a 'lanugo'.
The mother seals only suckle their pups for 17 to 23 days. Her milk contains up to 50 to 60% fat, ten times more than a Jersey cow’s milk. This helps the pups gain weight rapidly and develop a layer of blubber. Pups go from their birthweight of around 28 lb. (13 kg) to 100 lb. (45 kg) in just three weeks. Once the pup has suckled the mother leaves, never to return.
Pups then stay behind on the beach alone for around another three weeks to moult their white coats and grow a shorter adult waterproof coat. During this time they fast, living off their fat reserves. When they are ready the pups go into the sea and teach themselves to fish.
If the pup is a bull it could live for up to 25 years, whereas cows live for 35 years.
Grey seal pup
Grey seal pups are born with a white coat known as a 'lanugo'.
The mother seals only suckle their pups for 17 to 23 days. Her milk contains up to 50 to 60% fat, ten times more than a Jersey cow’s milk. This helps the pups gain weight rapidly and develop a layer of blubber. Pups go from their birthweight of around 28 lb. (13 kg) to 100 lb. (45 kg) in just three weeks. Once the pup has suckled the mother leaves, never to return.
Pups then stay behind on the beach alone for around another three weeks to moult their white coats and grow a shorter adult waterproof coat. During this time they fast, living off their fat reserves. When they are ready the pups go into the sea and teach themselves to fish.
If the pup is a bull it could live for up to 25 years, whereas cows live for 35 years.