Advice If You See a Seal Pup on Suffolk's Coast

People walking along Suffolk’s beaches are being told not to be surprised to see seal pups on the shoreline.

Young seals have already been spotted in places such as Kessingland and Southwold.

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue, say that it is not unusual to see seals resting on the beach. Seals are semi-aquatic and spend a lot of their time on land to sleep, conserve energy, digest food more efficiently and raise pups.

Therefore, finding a seal on the beach does not mean there is necessarily a problem. After stormy weather and/or high tides, seals will haul out on beaches to rest and regain their strength. Many do not need first aid, but we will always try to find someone to check them out just in case.

To watch seals safely, you must follow the 5 S’s as outlilned by the British Divers Marine Life Rescue:

STOP: Please do NOT approach them or allow children or dogs near them (keep dogs on leads). Seals can inflict nasty bites so it’s for yours, your child’s, and your dog’s own protection, as well as the seal’s!

SPACE: Give seals plenty of space by keeping a minimum distance of 100m from them. If the seal is a young pup, mum might still be in the area. Unweaned seal pups depend on mum’s milk to build up their blubber reserves in order to survive, but she may abandon her pup if anyone has interfered. Use a camera with a zoom or binoculars if you want to take a closer look.

SILENCE: Seals are easily disturbed on land where they are far more wary of threats. They stampede into the sea when they are startled, which will likely cause injuries and, in extreme cases, even death. Please stay calm, quiet, downwind and keep a low profile during your encounter so they don’t notice you.

SLEEP: Seals need to conserve their energy for their time out at sea and to digest food, socialise and feed their pups. If a seal is looking directly at you, it means it’s stopped its normal behaviour and is worrying about what you are doing instead, increasing stress.

SUPPORT: If you’re concerned about a seal’s welfare, please call our rescue hotline on 01825 765546 for advice and we may dispatch our trained Marine Mammal Medics to attend.

Further details can be found on the British Divers Marine Life Rescue website here.