Seal pup born at South Walney reserve for the second year

Despite seals using the protected beaches to haul out and rest at Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s South Walney Nature Reserve for decades, last year was the first time that a seal pup had been recorded on the island.

F irst seal pup born at South Walney Nature Reserve

Second seal pup born at South Walney Nature Reserve

Staff at the trust are delighted that for the second year running, a pup has been born on the island.

Reserve officer Sarah Dalrymple discovered the seal pup this morning: “This is a wonderfully encouraging sight showing that seals are thriving on Walney Island. We spotted the seal pup this morning, lying next to the mother, when we were doing a routine check of the seals on SealCam. To our utter delight, Jade, Hayden (two marine trainees) and myself spotted a young, white pup next to a female seal. It wasn’t present the day before so is certainly a new arrival on South Walney.” During the 1970s and 80s, seals were seen only singly around Walney Island and gradually over time their numbers have increased with over 100 individuals now on and around the island at certain times of the year. The mother will stay with the pup for only a short time, feeding it with fat-rich milk, until it is weaned and then she will leave both the pup and the area.

During this time, the pup will gradually moult its thick white fur revealing its adult coat with its own individual markings. After weaning, the pup may remain on the island for up to another few weeks or so before it is ready to head out to sea to forage for itself. Grey seals have an annual, synchronous breeding cycle and females give birth in the autumn to a single pup at the same time each year. They usually return to their own place of birth to breed year on year in the same location.

Towards the end of the weaning period the seals will mate again.

Miss Dalrymple said: “After two pups were born last year and one this year, hopefully we will see even more new arrivals to confirm South Walney Nature Reserve as a new Grey Seal breeding colony.”

Seal surveys have been carried out for five years, every two weeks between September and March, by Trainees from Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Marine and Coastal Heritage Programme, funded by Heritage Lottery Fund.

The survey aims to continually monitor the seal population structure in the area from year to year and the results are reported on by one of the Marine Trainees as part of their training to gain nature conservation skills. The trainees undertake a variety of on-the-job training and taught courses, gaining experience in organising and delivering events and training to for scientific surveys and writing reports. The project aims to provide people with the skills to pursue a career in marine heritage – a specialised area of the environmental sector. The behaviours displayed by the seals at South Walney Nature Reserve are also monitored to gain understanding about the percentage of time that seals spend exhibiting different types of behaviour and how this is affected by human disturbance such as boating and recreational use of the sea surrounding Walney Island.

The findings from the survey help to create management plans for the nature reserve. Due to the young age of the seal, it is incredibly vulnerable to disturbance, which would cause the mother to abandon it and the pup to starve. For this reason, there is strictly no access to the area of the nature reserve where the seal pup is, and so it is not possible to view the pup at South Walney Nature Reserve. However, the rest of the seals can be seen playing and fishing in the water at high tide, along with thousands of wintering wildfowl and wader birds, from hides elsewhere on the nature reserve.