Wild Wednesday - Grey Seal
Grey seals are the larger of the two UK seal species, their scientific name is Halichoerus grypus – it means hook-nosed sea pig!
We shouldn’t worry if we see them laying on our beaches as they are probably waiting for their food to go down or just having a rest, so please leave them in peace. However, they spend most of their time in the sea feeding on fish. Often spotted along the River Arun, they are a familiar visitor to our district and can be seen around all year.
If you are lucky, you will see them with their white fluffy seal pups that look like balls of cotton wool! They give birth in the Autumn and the pups stay on land until they have trebled their body wight and lost their white fluff.
They live for 30 to 40 years on average, with males weigh up to 300kg and females 200kg.
It's estimated that there are more than 120,000 grey seals in Britain, representing 40% of the world's population and 95% of the European population.
Read more here: Grey seal - Wikipedia