Grey seal pups at “record numbers”

Admin

December 5, 2025
3 min read

Conservationists have counted a record number of grey seal pups at a nature reserve, as the animals’ breeding season comes to an end. Cumbria Wildlife Trust reported at least 14 grey seal pups born at the South Walney Nature Reserve near Barrow since late August. It had been an early season this year, the trust said, as over 563 seals were counted at the site between September 2024 and March this year.

It had been “really special,” Alex Wright from North West Wildlife Trusts said, adding that it was “amazing to have them here in Cumbria.” The grey seal colony had grown, the trust said, from just single figures in the 1980s and 90s.

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The breeding season at the site is usually between October and the middle of November. This year, however, the first animals were reported on 31^st August. It marks the 11^th consecutive year in which pups have been recorded at the only grey seal colony in Cumbria.

“There might be a few more pups to come, we’ll have to wait and see,” Wright said. The youngest animals under a month old, he said, were “really pale, almost white,” before moulting, when they “grow bigger and begin making their way out to sea.” It was a “privilege to see them,” he said, adding that it was “amazing to have them here in Cumbria.

The trust has set up a seal cam, allowing people to see them on the beach.

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