Pups have finally arrived at Loch Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye! Three pups have been seen in the last few days but hopefully many more will be born in the coming weeks. The boatmen, Colin and Adam say that over 50 pups may be born in the Loch in a good year.
My role is to go out with the Dunvegan Castle boatmen twice a week and photograph the seals hauled out on the skerries and islands in the Loch. Ideally I try to get photos of the left and right profiles of each seal and these are later identified and numbered. The aim is to create a catalogue of all the seals and especially to record the mothers and their pups. Over time this will allow us to look at fecundity and the reproductive success of the seal population in the loch.
As the seals are so used to the castle boats they allow us to get very close to them without being disturbed and it is fantastic to observe them at such close quarters.
One interesting observation is the wide range of colours of the seals from white to grey or dark brown. One instantly recognisable seal is an orange female known locally as Morag. Her head and shoulders have a bright orange pelage unlike any of the other seals in the Loch. Colin, the head boatman has known her for over 20 years and says she has had many pups in that time. One of the yearling seals (last year’s pup) also has an orangey fur colour, although not as intense as Morag.
The orange coloration is thought to be caused by foraging in sediments containing high levels of iron oxide, which gets deposited on the seal’s hair. These orange seals are quite a common sight in many areas, for example in the Thames Estuary , and it has been observed in other species of phocids such as bearded seals.
I am very grateful to the staff at Dunvegan Castle and especially the boatmen for allowing SMRU to make this study as it is a privilege to get so close to these amazing wild animals.
Written by Andy