The seals are back in Horsey and visitors are arriving in numbers to watch them on the beach.

Every year the colony of grey seals come in their hundreds to give birth to their pups on Horsey Beach in Norfolk. The beach and surrounding waters is the colony’s home and seal-watching has become a big tourist attraction in the area.

In the past decade, the number of seals born on the beach has risen from about six to about 600. It’s thought that the wide expanse of sand and dunes, which give them protection from the weather and high tides, make Horsey Beach an ideal place for the colony.

The seals come to the beach to give birth to their pups between late November and January. It’s an amazing sight as around 100 snow-white seal pups are born each year to the light-grey female seals, while the darker males wait in the water.

You can get close without disturbing the colony, by approaching through the Horsey Gap, to a fenced off area. Though the seals have spread east of the Gap now, with pups being born outside of the original fenced-off area and prospecting bulls and females moving east of the Gap as the rookery gets busier.

For those that prefer an organised walk, see the The Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s website for dates and times.