PREVIEW

BY MARK WORGAN

National Trust rangers at Orford Ness are celebrating a record pupping season after 430 grey seal pups were born at the site this winter.

The figure represents an 88% increase on last year and is the clearest sign yet that the colony is continuing to grow.

Matt Wilson, countryside manager for the National Trust’s Suffolk and Essex Coast portfolio, said: “This year, our peak counts have included 803 adults and 430 pups, which is by far the highest numbers we’ve seen since the grey seals’ arrival in 2021.”

The first 200 adult seals were recorded at Orford Ness in 2021, following a lengthy closure during the Covid pandemic when visitor numbers were greatly reduced. Since then, the colony has expanded year on year.

Orford Ness, a former 20th Century military testing site that has largely been left to nature, is now believed to host Suffolk’s first breeding colony of grey seals. Just 25 pups were born in 2021–22, rising to 66 the following year, 133 in 2023–24, 228 in 2024–25 and now 430 this season.

Worldwide, the grey seal population is estimated at around 300,000, with waters around Britain and Ireland supporting roughly 40% of the global total.

In the wild, female grey seals can live for up to 35 years and typically give birth to their first pups between the ages of three and five, often returning to the same location each year.

Matt Wilson added: “We’re now in the fifth consecutive year of successful breeding at Orford Ness, which means that some of the adults having pups this year would have been born at Orford Ness in 2021 and 2022. It’s a good sign that the habitats are healthy, with enough fish stocks to keep them sustained throughout the winter, and the shingle ridge providing shelter from storms.

“Orford Ness is also closed from the end of October until the spring, which coincides with pupping season. That means the likelihood of human disturbance is greatly reduced, which no doubt adds to their overall health and wellbeing and has so far helped them to thrive.”

Human disturbance is considered one of the biggest threats to grey seals on UK shores. This can include people approaching too closely on foot, as well as the use of drones and other aerial equipment.

Orford Ness is open to visitors on selected days between 4 May and 26 September 2026. While there is no access to see the seals, wildlife along the site includes nesting and wading birds, hares, Chinese water deer and rare vegetated shingle. Seals from the colony can often be spotted swimming offshore along other parts of the coast, including between Aldeburgh and Shingle Street.

Throughout the winter, rangers have carried out weekly monitoring from a distance.

Tom Allen, a ranger at Orford Ness, said: “It’s been fantastic to see the colony grow over the past few months – although with much bigger numbers, and typically wintry weather, it can make counting difficult!

“Seals are wild animals and therefore move around, which occasionally means we’re unable to even get to some of their locations without the risk of disturbing them.

“We use a combination of telescopes and binoculars to help, which allows us to monitor the size and health of the colony from a safe distance, but as the colony gets bigger, it’s likely that our counts will become estimates rather than final numbers. We try to be as accurate as possible, but there is always a chance that some may have been missed.”

This winter, a series of storms caused parts of the shingle beach that forms Orford Ness’s ten-mile spit to shift, temporarily displacing some adults and pups.

Matt Wilson said: “Fortunately, the most noticeable storm surge occurred when most of our pups had moulted, which is when they lose their fluffy white coat and are able to swim. This meant that they are able to survive in the water, and the remaining white coats were still spotted on the shingle beach during our post-storm checks.

“Although we do lose some pups each year to storm events like this, or sometimes to a few cases of female pups abandoning their young, we still appear to have a very low mortality rate, even as the colony continues to grow.”

The National Trust is working with partner organisations to support the colony, including the Sea Mammal Research Unit, British Divers Marine Life Rescue, WildlifeWise and the specialist RSPCA wildlife rescue centre at East Winch.