Seals

Our Seals

Our 'resident' seals are Common (Harbour) seals. Some of the adult seals in the Sanctuary Bay pool were our original babies rescued and reared in the late 1960's.

Feeding times are intended to be educational as well as fun and also act as a form of environmental enrichment for the seals keeping them active and stimulated.

         
  
  Seals can reach speeds of up 
   to 13mph (20 kph) in water,
   twice as fast as the average fish.
       

Wild Seals

There are two kinds of seals found around the British coastline.

1. The Common or Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) is usually found around sandy coastlines. The largest single colony is in the Wash between Lincolnshire and Norfolk. Here there are numerous sandbanks exposed at low tide where seals can haul out to sleep or give birth to their pups in safety.

2. The Grey or Atlantice seal (Halichoerus grypus) is larger than the Common seal and spends more time at sea. The nearest breeding ground for the Grey seal is at Donna Nook approximately 22 miles north of Skegness.