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I went to Horsey to see the grey seals, an activity organized by my university’s conservation club. Horsey is about one hour car drive from Norwich. 

Grey seals are a species of seals (the scientific name is Halichoerus grypus). The female grey seal is silver-grey in colour, with small scattered dark spots, while the males are a dark grey with silver grey spots. The male is also distinguished from the female by having a long-arched roman nose which is the basis for its Latin name, Halichoerus grypus, meaning the hooked-nose sea pig. The average adult grey seal weighs around 200 kg and is about 2 meters long.

Grey seals occur in temperate and subarctic waters on both sides of the North Atlantic ocean. Half of the world’s population of grey seals are found on and around British coasts. The grey seal is Britain’s largest carnivorous mammal. Its thick, insulating layer of blubber and waterproof fur allow it to survive in cold water temperatures.

The habitat of the grey seal differs among each individual group of seals. Some are found along rocky continental coasts, while others are comfortable on isolated islands. There are also many grey seal populations around that haul out on icebergs and ice shelves. 

The breeding season of gery seals differ with different populations. Around British shores, they breed from September to December. Once impregnated and following a gestation period of eleven months, females usually come ashore and give birth to a single pup one day after.

At birth the baby is covered with a thick, creamy-white coat, but this is replaced by a greyish juvenile coat after about three weeks. The pup is nursed for approximately 3 weeks after it is born, growing quickly on its mother’s milk. The milk is almost 60% fat, and the pups drink roughly 3 litres a day. As a result the pups weight rapidly increases. They put on about 35 to 40 kg in under 3 weeks. At the same time the mothers lose around 70 to 80 kg.

Once the pup is weaned, the female mates with one or more males and then leaves the pup at the shore. The pup will remain on land, living off of its fat reserves until it has fully moulted, at which point it will feed at sea. Grey seals are attentive mothers and defend their pups against predation and intrusion. (See the video below, the mother is rushing to see her baby. (The video was taken under the strong wind causing the shoot shaky and noisy.)[googlevideo]-264782064738996795&q[/googlevideo]The males haul themselves onto the shore and fight each other to establish territories for mating. After mating, the female returns to the sea, but the fertilised egg does not start developing until much later so the birth will be at the same time the following year.   

We had lunch at a traditional Norfolk holstelry.

There were two windmills, one working and one abandoned.