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Harbour Seal

Phoca vitulina

Photo by moralcoral
Published on Project Noah
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51.8549, 1.26721

Field Notes

Description:

Found hauled out at low tide on the Walton Backwaters. A true seal found along British coastlines. Each individual possessing a unique pattern of fine, dark spots.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (5)
galewhale..Gale
haha .... they look about the same size, maybe both harbor seals. It is really hard to get close... I have a 500mm lens for my study and it still isn't enough. Seals here (East coast U.S.) seem a lot shier than yours, at least from photos I see on flickr. Have you been to Bonny Nook? (I think that's its name... grey seal pupping beach)
moralcoral
we actually thought they were sheep from a distance as they were so high up!!
moralcoral
Yes the tidle range in this area is huge! i zoomed in to ID these but the quality of the photo was massivly reduced so didnt upload it, the white one is definatly a harbour seal with the flatter nose, however the greyer one looked like its nose was longer so possibly a grey (they are both found in this area) but the quality was too bad to ID it definatly, hopefully ill go back to get some better shots soon, here the mud was so deep this was the closest i could get and only had a 105mm lens, hopefully my 270mm will come soon!!
galewhale..Gale
Way up there! The tides must be large!? I study Harbor seals in Maine and it is true you can recognize individuals by their unique patterns (though there are plain white ones that are hopeless to i.d.)
Elsa
COOL! We need to go there when I come over!!

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Marine Mammals of the World
Mission
Wildlife on the Walton Backwaters
Photographed
PublishedNovember 6, 2011

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