The Donna Nook Grey Seals
Donna Nook National Nature Reserve covers more than 6.25 miles of coastline in Lincolnshire, UK, part of which the Ministry of Defence still maintains as a bombing target range. It stretches between Grainthorpe Haven in the north and Saltfleet in the south where it borders the Saltfleetby-Theddlethorpe National Nature Reserve.
Every November and December, grey seals come to the Donna Nook coastline to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, which attracts visitors from across the UK.
The visitor viewing area is open from late October to December and fences keep them away from the breeding areas, although sometimes the seals and their pups can be very near.
The grey seal is the larger of the two UK seal species. The other is the common seal. Their scientific name, Halichoerus grypus, means hook-nosed sea pig!
They spend most of their time out at sea feeding on fish, but they return to land to rest and also to breed. Grey seals give birth to fluffy white pups in the autumn. These pups stay on land until they have lost their white coats and trebled their body weight, when their mothers abandon them and the pups follow them into the sea to start fending for themselves.
Until they have shed those fluffy white coats, they are unable to swim and so are vulnerable to drowning by storm surges, but thankfully, that is a rare occurrence.
Grey seals reach up to 8 1/2 feet long and can live for 30-40 years.
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