Thursday, December 07, 2006

Donna Nook

When I saw the TV programme about Donna Nook I thought it looked too good to be true.

This week we went to see for ourselves.

This has to be a unique nature reserve, in the UK at least. The foreshore is used by the Ministry of Defense as an aerial gunnery and bombing range and by Atlantic Grey Seals as a breeding rookery.

There are seals and seal pups all over the beach, right up to the low fence at the foot of the sand dunes. Visitors to the reserve are told to avoid unexploded ordnance and not to touch the seals. We had no problem with ordnance but it was very tempting to touch a seal pup to feel how soft the fur is.

There are notices warning visitors that touching the pups could lead to their rejection by their mothers and pointing out that they can bite. One pup yawned close by and showed its teeth and the warning notices made a lot of sense. Lots of very sharp teeth!

The seal pup pictured is just weaned, about three weeks old and double its birth-weight. Its mother will probably have mated and gone back to sea. The pup will moult its white fur over the next few days and will then head out to sea. The photo was taken on a Minolta DiMage Xi through the gaps in the fence, no zoom needed. Some pups actually sleep with their noses against the fence but this one was a few feet away.

An amazing experience, well worth driving 400 miles to see.

Labels: ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home