Be a seal-friendly visitor! Sleeping seals put out 'Do not disturb!' sign.

A great sight greeted me as I arrived at the cliff top above the haul out beach on Sunday morning. Lots of seals spread out across the beach, sleeping lazily on the sand. It was a rare, calm and mild Winter's day - perfect for seal watching! Seals are particularly prone to disturbance on calm days, when sound travels furthest and voices from the cliff top are not drowned out by the sound of wind or waves. The books all say that seal sight is blurred out of water, and little is written about seal hearing. However, anyone who's spent time watching the seals will know that the seals do look up at people on the cliff top and anecdotal evidence suggests that seals can see white or yellow clothing most easily. This is probably not surprising, as these are the colours that most resemble the coat colour of new born pups. Similarly, seals will look up in response to high pitched childrens' voices or dog barks 200 feet away. These are what caused the 2 stampedes today, that resulted in half of the seals being scared into the water. So, just how do you seal watch without causing any disturbance? Follow these simple guidelines:-

• Keep a low profile on the cliff top, by standing back from the edge or by lying down.
• Encourage children or dogs to be as quiet as possible when near the cliff edge.
• If one or more seals look up to the cliff top in response to a movement or sound, keep still and quiet until they resettle.

Seal-friendly visitors arrive at the cliff top, watch the seals and leave without any of them moving into the sea!

Sleeping peacefully (Left) : Seals rush together for the sea (Mid) : Half the seals were scared in 2 stampedes (Right.)