UK diving Greatest Delights!
One of the great delights of UK diving is the experience of encountering seals underwater!!
One of our young divers Isobel researched the following about seals around West Wales.
Atlantic grey seals
Common seals or harbour seals are the most common seal species in the UK. However in west Wales the Atlantic grey seal is much more common. Harbour seals are only very occasionally sighted on the Pembrokeshire coasts.
Atlantic grey seals
Appearance: males can grow up to 3m long and weigh up to 360kg. Females grow to 1.8m and weigh up to 136kg. They are usually dark grey in colour with mottling throughout the fur but this varies with age. Younger seals have lighter fur and less mottling. Longish snout with large eyes and nostrils which are spaced apart.
Diet: grey seals are not fussy they will eat almost anything they can overpower, including fish, crustaceans and cephalopods.
Grey seals can sometimes be confused with harbour seals. To avoid this it is important to know what harbour seals look like. Grey seals are generally much larger than common seals, have a significantly longer snout and their nostrils are spaced far apart, unlike the common seal.
Grey seal’s breeding season occurs from September to October. They are also often seen from august to december in pembrokeshire. Common grey seal breeding grounds in west wales include Ramsey island, Skomer Island, remote parts of the North Pembrokeshire coast and the Marloes Peninsula
This pie chart shows the most popular areas for seals on skomer island.
The most populous areas in Skomer are South Haven, North Haven and Matthew’s wick.
