GREY SEALS OF HELGOLAND

Heligoland is located 46 kilometres off the German coastline and consists of two islands: the populated triangular 1 km2 (0.4 sq mi) main island (Hauptinsel) to the west, and the Düne ("dune", Heligolandic: de Halem) to the east. The former is what the place name "Heligoland" normally is used to refer to. Düne is somewhat smaller at 0.7 km2 (0.27 sq mi), lower, and surrounded by sand beaches. It is not permanently inhabited, but is today the location of the breeding grey seals

The pups are born at around the mass of 14kg. They are born in autumn (September to November) in the eastern Atlantic and in winter (January to February) in the west, with a dense, soft silky white fur; at first small, they rapidly fatten up on their mothers' extremely fat-rich milk. The milk can consist of up to 60% fat. Within a month or so they shed the pup fur, grow dense waterproof adult fur, and leave for the sea to learn to fish for themselves.

My first long lens, a Pentax A* 600/5.6, was a manual focus one. I'm glad things have improved for me since!

One of the dangers for the grey seal pups is the disturbance of their rest. They only have 5 weeks to grow into a seal that can fend for itself as their mothers abandon them at this early age.

Female seals feed their young for only 3-4 weeks, but their milk is rich in fat. In this short time, the seal pup can quadruple in size. In some parts of the world, grey seal numbers are increasing. This is because one of its major predators, an Atlantic shark species, is over-exploited by humans. But the seal still faces threats from hunters, pollutants and viruses.

Newborn grey seals are creamy white. They have specialised hair that lasts 2–4 weeks before it is replaced with adult hair that has subtle markings

The grey seal is Hollands largest carnivorous mammal. Its thick, insulating layer of blubber and waterproof fur allow it to survive in cold water temperatures that would kill a human within minutes.

The grey seal (Halichoerus grypus, meaning "hooked-nosed sea pig") is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a large seal of the family Phocidae or "true seals". Its name is spelled gray seal in the US; it is also known as Atlantic seal and the horsehead seal

It is a large seal, with bulls reaching 2.5–3.3 m long and weighing 170–310 kg; the cows are much smaller, typically 1.6–2.0 m long and 100–190 kg in weight.