First seal pups make early arrival at nature reserve

Grey seals are common on UK coastlines

Grey seal pups have appeared a month earlier than usual at a nature reserve.

The pupping season in Cumbria generally runs from October to mid-November, but this year at South Walney Nature Reserve, the first pup was spotted on 31 August.

It was called "a lovely late summer surprise" by conservationists at the trust.

A second pup was born three weeks later, on 17 September.

Beth Churn, Marine Conservation Officer for Cumbria Wildlife Trust said:

"It's not the first time that we've seen seal pups this early in the season, but generally we spot them from October through to November."

Beth said the early arrivals could be related to climate change, sea conditions or even that they had moved from an area where early births is more common.

The first seal pup was born at the end of August

She said it is not the only instance in the country.

"This year, unusually early grey seal pup births have also been recorded in Cornwall and on the Isle of Man so it seems like this may be a UK-wide trend."

This is the 11th year in a row that pups have been recorded at Cumbria's only breeding grey seal colony.

Earlier this year, Cumbria Wildlife Trust announced a record 563 grey seals had been counted at South Walney Nature Reserve.

There is no access to the beach in order to protect the seals but the trust has a seal cam on their website so people can see what the mammals are getting up to.