The first seal pup of the season has been born at a Cumbrian nature reserve.
The grey pup was spotted at South Walney Nature Reserve by staff at Cumbria Wildlife Trust while they were looking through recent footage from their drone, which is used to survey seal numbers at the reserve.
Beth Churn, marine conservation officer at Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said: “We were very excited to see a patch of white fluff when we downloaded the latest drone footage from our survey – the pup was quite well hidden by seaweed so we hadn’t spotted it on our ‘on the ground’ survey so it shows the importance of the drone surveys.
“We did another ground survey today at South Walney and were able to confirm the sighting. The first pup of the season is always an exciting moment for us. Last year we recorded 7 so we’re hoping for a similar number this year.”
Beth added that the newly born seals are vulnerable to abandonment if disturbed and that people should not approach them at the reserve.
She said: “This is a crucial time for the pup. If the parent seals are alarmed, they can flush into the sea and abandon their young and we obviously want to avoid this at all costs. We urge people who are keen to see the pup to look at our seal cam for a close-up view. There’s no access to the beach where the seal pup is.”
The Trust is also urging sea users, particularly kayakers, anglers and small boats, to keep well back from the seal colony while they are resting on the beach.
There is also strictly no access to the area of the nature reserve where the seal pup is, and it is not possible to view the pup at South Walney Nature Reserve.
The rest of the seals can be seen playing and fishing in the water at high tide, along with thousands of wintering wildfowl and wader birds, from elsewhere on the reserve.
A new screened viewing point at South Walney allows people to get a better view of seals in the water, without disturbing wildlife. The nature reserve is open daily 10am to 5pm, and 10am to 4pm in winter.
