Share Album Published November 16, 2017 Donna Nook Seal Births 2017 The annual struggle for survival between young seal pups and the elements in North Lincolnshire
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsibarber.ddns.net%2Farchive%2Falbums%2Fdonna-nook-seal-births-2017%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fsibarber.ddns.net%2Farchive%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F010%2F191%2Fbarber-donna-nook-03%2Flarge.1728986416.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fsibarber.ddns.net%2Farchive%2Falbums%2Fdonna-nook-seal-births-2017%2F" title="Donna Nook Seal Births 2017"%3EDonna Nook Seal Births 2017%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EFor+most+of+the+year+the+UK+grey+seal+is+seldom+seen%2C+inhabiting+the+coastal+waters+and+remaining+out+of+sight%2C+but+in+October+each+year+they+come+inland+onto+the+salt+marshes+of+Lincolnshire+to+give+birth+to+their+pups.+Despite+the+relative+shelter+of+the+mudflats+it%E2%80%99s+a+precarious+and+often+violent+start+in+life+for+the+young+with+40%25++succumbing+to+infection%2C+drowning+or+starvation+in+the+early+weeks+of+life.+For+those+that+do+survive+they+will+also+have+avoid+the+prowling+bull+seals+who+look+to+kill+the+pups+so+they+can+copulate+again+with+the+adult+females+before+the+colony+moves+out+again+into+deep+water+during+December.+Many+of+the+cow+seals+display+their+age+with+the+scars+and+bloody+wounds+they+receive+in+these+struggles+as+they+protect+and+wean+their+young+for+a+month+before+leaving+them+literally+to+sink+or+swim.+%0A%0AAnd+if+survival+wasn%E2%80%99t+already+against+the+odds+for+the+pups%2C+since+the+1970s++the+colony+has+chosen+to+settle+on+the+RAF+Donna+Nook+bombing+range+where+billions+of+dollars+of+military+technology+roars+overhead+rehearsing+for+war+and+oblivious+to+the+battle+for+life+and+death+going+on+below+them.+%0A%0AThis+year+so+far+and+527+pups+have+been+born+to+a+total+population+of+1791.%0A%3C/p%3E){kind=link}