Grey Seal Pup Lying With Mother In The Sand Dunes At Donna Nook, Lincolnshire Stock Image

The Grey / Gray seal Halichoerus grypus is found on both eastern and western shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is also known as the Atlantic seal and the horsehead seal.Males are generally larger and darker than females, with lighter patches and often having scars around their neck. Donna Nook in Lincolnshire, on England’s North Sea coast, is home to a colony of grey seals. For most of the year the seals are at sea or resting “hauled out” on sandbanks out in the North Sea.They come ashore in November and December to give birth near the sand dunes. Pups have dense white coats and weigh about 14kg when born. They suckle from their mother for about two to three weeks, gaining about 2kg in weight every day. The mother will mate again three to four weeks after giving birth, then leave the pup and return to sea.