Seal pups lost to storms

Nov 15 2007 by Sam Wood, The Journal

HIGH tides and stormy weather may have washed away hundreds of pups from one of the country’s major seal colonies off the North-East coast.

Waves battered the Farne Islands, two miles off the Northumberland coastline last week, and the devastation to the local seal population can only be assessed now as the sea conditions slowly improve.

Unusually, grey seals pup in the autumn, and the colony on the Farnes waits longer than other groups around the UK, making the youngsters particularly susceptible to heavy storms.

The islands’ seal population has been around 3,800 for the last 20 years. Each year about 1,200 pups are born, with about half dying soon after and around only 400 managing to survive the first year. Last week’s high tides, coupled with strong northerly winds, meant tides that usually rise to four metres were up to 5.4 metres.

Some islands which normally remain above sea level were totally submerged, sweeping all young seal life from them.

The islands are managed by the National Trust, whose spokeswoman said: “The strong winds we had have hit the islands at the wrong time, as this is peak pupping time. Since last Friday, a lot have been washed out to sea, but it is too early to tell what the position will be at the end of the pupping season.”

The islands are staffed by National Trust experts, who were effectively cut off from the mainland by the weather. Conditions have only just become safe enough for wardens to make journeys to surrounding islands to take stock, but one island where 106 pups had already been born was swamped in the storm last week.

The pupping season will continue for several more weeks, and some born early will have been robust enough to survive.

The Trust spokeswoman added: “These are long-living mammals, so it will not be devastating for the population. This is just one year, and there will be a chance for the population to fight back next year. This does not mean the end of grey seals on the Farnes by any means.”

The fate of the young grey seals has featured on the BBC’s hit wildlife programme Autumnwatch, presented by Bill Oddie and Kate Humble. The programme’s expert Simon King has struggled to get out to the islands in the North Sea due to the storms.

Mr King said: “The grey seals have been severely affected by the storms we have experienced over the past few days.

“Early signs are pretty grave. There is no doubt the colony has been severely affected by the great surge of waves that washed over the islands a few days ago.”

David Steel, head warden for the National Trust on the Farne Islands, estimated that 60%-65% of pups had died.

But he said: “Grey seals have a very long life span so if there have been extra deaths this year, the seals could easily be replaced over the next couple of years.”