Seal watching - why and how
I tend to go out to watch the seals at the weekends, on holidays and after work in the Summer. I aim to build up a comprehensive picture of the one seal colony that I visit regularly. I want to become familar with the intricate patterns in the lives of the seals at this location and to gather some basic data in an attempt to begin to explain the patterns and behaviours I observe. A cornerstone of my work is the ability to identify individual seals. Every grey seal has a unique set of markings on its coat, which it keeps for most of its adult life, despite moulting its fur completely on an annual basis. I digitally video seals visiting the colony and at home take still images from this to identify individual seal markings. A telescope helps with on-site ID. It has taken me over 4 years to build up a catalogue of more than 300 different grey seals, against which newly sighted seals can be compared. At last, identifying a proportion of the seals present at any one time has become a regular occurence, so patterns of visits, groupings and behaviours are beginning to emerge.
Many thanks to Simon for creating the Flash animations on this page,
click here
to see his photos.