Devon seal moves to Cornwall to give birth
23/09/2008 14:33:50
Ghost 2 in Cornwall. Credit Cornwall Seal Group.
On 8th September Rob Jutsum photographed a large pregnant adult female grey seal hauled out on rocks off Morte Point in Devon. The photographs were sent to Lauren Davis at the Devon Biodiversity Records Centre to be recorded. They were also sent to Sue Sayer of Cornwall Seal Group to answer some queries about the individual. On seeing the unique fur patterns on the photographs, Sue immediately knew she had seen this female seal before.
Seal ID project
Cornwall Seal Group, one of Cornwall Wildlife Trust's specialist groups, has been identifying and monitoring grey seals at one north coast haul out in Cornwall since 2000. They now have over 600 seals in their Photo Identification database.
Sue Sayer said, "I began looking through photographs from the database and suddenly remembered that this female had had been a mum on the haul-out beach last year. Narrowing down the search, I quickly found the seal pattern I was looking for. This seal was S262 ‘Ghost 2', who had given birth to a pretty female pup called Bonnie on 3rd October 2007."
Grey seal, ghost, seen in Devon. Photo by Paul Jutsum.
The mothers who give birth at this haul-out site are not known to the group, so must come into the area solely to pup. Cornwall Seal Group has been mystified for some time as to where the mothers are coming from.
Female grey seals show site fidelity, so it was hoped that the heavily pregnant ‘Ghost 2' was heading from Devon to Cornwall. It is thought that she could spend most of her year around Lundy or even around Wales.
Seal Group volunteers were informed of the potential visit from ‘Ghost 2' in the hope she would be spotted. Sue Sayer continued, "To our utter amazement and delight, S262 ‘Ghost 2' arrived in west Cornwall right on cue. She appeared, albeit briefly for around 30 seconds, on the mainland haul-out beach on 20th September. A few quick photographs were taken before she left, presumably heading for the adjacent cove, where we hope she will soon have her pup."
Seals seen on Scilly Isles
Cornwall Seal Group's Photo Identification database is now enabling members to identify seals elsewhere and so far this year, six seals from their north coast haul out have been identified on the Isles of Scilly. Sue Sayer concluded, "The value of the database is only just being realised, as we are beginning to be able to track seals around the Cornish coast and beyond, giving us a much greater insight into the secret world of our grey seals."
The UK has an international responsibility to protect and conserve grey seals, with around 40% of the world's population. Learning more about our grey seals is vital to increase our ability to look after them.
For news of this year's pups or to adopt a wild Cornish seal, visit www.cornwallsealgroup.co.uk
