Page 158 - NT 2022 Almanac

There are two types of seal found around the British coast: the common seal and the grey seal. The common seal gives birth to pups in the summer, whereas the grey seal has its pups in November. The grey seal spends a lot of time in the sea, where it hunts for
fish, squid, crab and lobster. They live in large family groups called ‘colonies’ which can be made up of thousands of seals.
The grey seal prefers the rocky coasts found in northern and western parts of the country and is most likely to be seen off the coast of Northumberland, Lincolnshire, the Orkney Islands and Cornwall.
The grey seal grows to a much larger size than the common seal and males are much bigger than females.
The grey seal has a much longer nose or ‘snout’ than the common seal and has nostrils spaced further apart!
Seals like to leave the water to rest and bask in the sun after they have been hunting.
Grey seal
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Common seal