Geograph - photograph every grid square

Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) - mother and pup playing

The beach between Horsey Gap and Winterton is home to a colony of grey seals which at this time of the year can be seen on the beach giving birth to and looking after their pups. To-date 248 seal pups have been born this year > Link. During the breeding season, which lasts from November until January, several kilometres of beach are cordoned off to give the animals some space. Platforms have been constructed at regular intervals in the dunes above, giving excellent views onto the beach below.
Sightseers are asked not to venture down onto the beach so as not to disturb the seals but seal pups can be encountered in the dunes, blocking the path or lurking in the high marram grass > Link hissing at passers-by.

The gestation period of a grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) lasts for eleven and a half months; the timing of birth varies, beginning in September in west Wales and November in the Farne Islands and Norfolk. Pups weigh about 15 kilograms at birth and are born with a fluffy white coat. They suckle from their mother for 18 to 21 days and gain about 2 kilograms of weight per day. Towards the end of the nursing period the mother mates with one or more males, and after the pup is fully weaned it is left to fend for itself. The pups stay at the breeding colony for three to four weeks until they are fully moulted, living off their blubber reserves, before they go to sea and learn how to swim and fish. (This information was taken from a leaflet published by the Broads Authority.)