Record number of baby seals seen on county beaches

Volunteers have counted thousands of baby seals this season

Nearly 4,000 baby grey seals have been counted on Norfolk's beaches this winter, which volunteers say is a record for the area.

Friends of Horsey Seals (FoHS) said 3,796 pups had been born while 1,169 adults had been spotted on the five-mile stretch of coast between Waxham and Winterton.

The number is almost double the previous record in 2019-20 when the total pup population was 2,069.

FoHS, a group that protects grey seals, said it was "a sign of a healthy colony".

The young seals are weaned before re-entering the sea

Seals are a common sight in the Horsey area - on the coast between Great Yarmouth and Cromer.

The pupping season begins in mid-October and is currently drawing to a close.

Volunteers who monitor the colony and do regular counts of new arrivals said the seals attracted thousands of visitors each year, as the young seals get weaned before re-entering the sea.

The seal population attracts many people to Horsey beach

FoHS chairman, Peter Ansell, said the large numbers this season were "down to the fish".

"At the moment the North Sea is providing enough fish for thousands of seals and this is a nice place for them to come ashore and do their breeding," he said.

"They are very popular with visitors, which is funny because they don't really do anything - they come ashore and flop down and every few hours the pup nudges the mum for a feed."

Visitors are asked to keep at a distance and keep their dogs on leads while pups are ashore in the winter months.

The seals are "very popular with visitors", according to volunteers who monitor the colony