PatrickO2
Grey seal pup - Horsey Beach, Norfolk.
This pup is about 3 weeks old and weighs about 100 pounds. The pic was taken in the dunes about the beach between Horsey and Winterton.
Grey seals come ashore to breed - the breeding site is known as a rookery or haul-out. The females arrive at the breeding sites first and will usually give birth a day after arriving. When the males arrive they compete for space nearest to the females. The oldest males get the best positions.
The gestation period of a grey seal is 11.5 months, including a 3 month delay in the implantation of the fertilised egg. The timing of births varies around the coast, beginning in September in West Wales, as late as November in the Farne Islands and from the 47th week of the year at Winterton.
The pup weighs about 15Kg at birth and is born with a white coat. The pups will suckle from their mother for 18-21 days. The milk, which has the consistency of condensed milk, is made from 60% fat and the pup will gain about 2Kg of weight a day.
Towards the end of the nursing period the mother mates with one or more of the males and then after the pup is weaned she leaves it to fend for itself. The pup stays at the rookery until it has fully moulted, living off its blubber reserves, and eventually goes to sea to start feeding, about 1-4 weeks after it was weaned.
Grey seal pup - Horsey Beach, Norfolk.
This pup is about 3 weeks old and weighs about 100 pounds. The pic was taken in the dunes about the beach between Horsey and Winterton.
Grey seals come ashore to breed - the breeding site is known as a rookery or haul-out. The females arrive at the breeding sites first and will usually give birth a day after arriving. When the males arrive they compete for space nearest to the females. The oldest males get the best positions.
The gestation period of a grey seal is 11.5 months, including a 3 month delay in the implantation of the fertilised egg. The timing of births varies around the coast, beginning in September in West Wales, as late as November in the Farne Islands and from the 47th week of the year at Winterton.
The pup weighs about 15Kg at birth and is born with a white coat. The pups will suckle from their mother for 18-21 days. The milk, which has the consistency of condensed milk, is made from 60% fat and the pup will gain about 2Kg of weight a day.
Towards the end of the nursing period the mother mates with one or more of the males and then after the pup is weaned she leaves it to fend for itself. The pup stays at the rookery until it has fully moulted, living off its blubber reserves, and eventually goes to sea to start feeding, about 1-4 weeks after it was weaned.