Grey Seals

Where: Falmouth, England

The Story: I photographed these grey seals several years ago (2009) and they are still among the best images I have of these animals. They were taken at a regular low-tide hall out at the mouth of the River Fal. There are various water excursions that pass by this spot but you will only see seals at low water when the reef is exposed. Grey seals have done well in recent years and their numbers are recovering. They can now be seen around quite a lot of the british coastline but usually as heads bobbing in the waves or on distant rocks.

These photos were taken carefully from our own boat but it's important not to scare the seals. They need their space. In picking a few to put onto the site I realised all these have the seals looking towards the camera. This is not quite reality; I have hundreds of others with them laid out, eyes closed and content we are not a risk. These are the exceptions!

As a footnote, I'm back in Cornwall as I write (2015) and took some further pictures today. Six years after the first set were taken, we spotted the same female with the brown scars on her belly. Encouraging. I'll be adding further notes to the blog when I can get a decent connection.

Equipment & Settings: 2009 were Nikon D90, Nikon 70-300mm f4.5 -5.6 - typically near 300mm. 2015, see captions.