Pupping season has finally started in Orkney! Over the last week, while visiting haulouts to count and take photographs of the seals, I have seen the first new pups of 2016! These first pups of the season made it a bit difficult to be spotted as the mum and pup pairs were located at quite isolated haulouts far from any dry land, but I managed to get enough pictures to identify the females.
Harbour seal pups are born with their adult coat, which is very dark though already with the characteristic spot pattern. Pups can swim as soon as they are born, which means that females can give birth at a site regardless of whether it may get covered by water with the incoming tide. Pups are frequently seen at a haulout sleeping or suckling, but also swimming in shallow waters; and as days and weeks go they will gain more independence from mum and adventure further.
A visit to one of the haulouts a few days ago brought a very welcomed and nice surprise, as one of the seals that we tagged earlier in the season showed up with a tiny new pup! More precisely, this female had traveled down south to the Moray Firth where she spent a good month and a half before heading back to Orkney. We hoped she would be back for pupping and so she was! You can see her gorgeous new pup below.
There are still a lot of very big females at the haulouts, so we expect the number of pups to increase in the upcoming few weeks. In the Moray Firth, our colleagues from the University of Aberdeen Lighthouse Field Station are also in full pupping season, with one of the pups being born to one of their well-known females. Meanwhile in Isle of Skye, Andy has still to see a pup, although the Dunvegan Castle Seal Trips have reported their first pup of the season already. Hopefully Andy gets to photograph pup and mum over the weekend on his next visit.
Written by Monica