Grey Seal bobbing in the sea
I have lots of photographs of Grey Seals on the beaches where they breed in Lincolnshire, but none of them actually in the sea. I thought I would redress this with a photograph of a female from the Farne Islands. They are sometimes inquisitive, and will bob up and look at the people in the boats, then they'll suddenly have a panic attack and will dive. This photo shows one of the key characters for separating from Common Seal; they have parallel(ish) nostrils that don't meet at the bottom. Common Seal's nostrils almost converge to form a V shape. It also shows the typical coarsely blotched grey pelage and the Roman nose profile from forehead to snout. The scientific name is Halichoerus grypus. The first name comes from the Greek words halios (the sea) and khoiros (a small pig), so literally small pig of the sea. Grypus is Latin for hooked from the face profile, which is slightly convex when viewed side-on. There are an estimated three to four thousand Grey Seals breeding on the Farne Islands, which rear about a thousand pups each year. They give birth in the autumn to fluffy white pups.
This photograph was taken from the catamaran Serenity that provides a remarkably stable base for photographers. Definitely the boat to choose for photographers visiting the Farne Islands.
Grey Seal bobbing in the sea
I have lots of photographs of Grey Seals on the beaches where they breed in Lincolnshire, but none of them actually in the sea. I thought I would redress this with a photograph of a female from the Farne Islands. They are sometimes inquisitive, and will bob up and look at the people in the boats, then they'll suddenly have a panic attack and will dive. This photo shows one of the key characters for separating from Common Seal; they have parallel(ish) nostrils that don't meet at the bottom. Common Seal's nostrils almost converge to form a V shape. It also shows the typical coarsely blotched grey pelage and the Roman nose profile from forehead to snout. The scientific name is Halichoerus grypus. The first name comes from the Greek words halios (the sea) and khoiros (a small pig), so literally small pig of the sea. Grypus is Latin for hooked from the face profile, which is slightly convex when viewed side-on. There are an estimated three to four thousand Grey Seals breeding on the Farne Islands, which rear about a thousand pups each year. They give birth in the autumn to fluffy white pups.
This photograph was taken from the catamaran Serenity that provides a remarkably stable base for photographers. Definitely the boat to choose for photographers visiting the Farne Islands.