From cute pups to dramatic fights between bulls, gray seals are fascinating to observe. However these animals face continuous threats. Be part of me as I go to a thriving colony in Yorkshire and discover out what you are able to do to assist them of their battle for survival.
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Gray seals
Gray seals are the most important of UK seal species and their scientific identify Halichoerus grypus, which implies hook-nosed sea pig, provides you an concept of easy methods to determine them! Though clumsy on land, these massive mammals are completely tailored to life at sea. They’ve massive webbed flippers tipped with sharp claws and may swim effortlessly by way of water to catch their prey. Breed on seashores Every Autumn they haul up onto our seashores in massive numbers to breed and that is additionally the time females give start to their pups, which is unimaginable once you suppose how exhausted she should be.
Seal pups
A feminine usually provides start to only one pup which she’s going to feed as much as six occasions a day. Seal milk has greater than 10 occasions the fats content material of cows milk which helps the pups develop by 2 kilos a day. Shortly after pupping, the females are fertile once more and this causes mayhem within the colony. Competitors between males will be ferocious. Beachmasters The largest and strongest males are often called beachmasters. They dominate a gaggle of females in an space and may get so focussed on defending their ‘harems’, they usually don’t feed themselves Younger males are consistently looking out for unguarded females, however with such formidable beachmasters about, their likelihood is slim. Generally these seals take their probabilities to mate within the surf. Not solely do seals should combat for survival in their very own colonies, additionally they face exterior threats from air pollution, declining meals sources, entanglement and, in all probability probably the most distressing as a result of it’s so simply avoidable, human disturbance.
Tips on how to assist seals
Seals are nervous on land and may stampede in fright, which is when the younger get injured or separated from their moms. Based on Bex Lynam, Marine Advocacy Officer for the Yorkshire Wildlife Belief, which works to guard this explicit seal colony on the Yorkshire Coast, seals are simply spooked. Bex recommends all the time staying no less than 100m away from the seals. It’s additionally essential to strategy quietly, and calmly. Up to now the work to assist seals is working and populations right here in Yorkshire are rising, which is fabulous information as a result of these animals actually are unimaginable.