File:So young and so tired - close-up - geograph.org.uk - 1083398.jpg

English: So young and so tired - close-up. Young seal pup sleeping on the beach - see also > 1083394. At this time of the year this section of beach is closed to people. During the breeding season, which lasts from November until January, several kilometres of beach are cordoned off to give the animals some space. Platforms have been constructed at regular intervals in the dunes above, giving excellent views onto the beach below. Sightseers are asked not to venture down onto the beach so as not to disturb the seals but seal pups can be encountered in the dunes, blocking the path or lurking in the high marram grass, hissing at passers-by. To-date 165 pups have been born this year at this section of coastline. The gestation period of a grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) lasts for eleven and a half months; the timing of birth varies, beginning in September in west Wales and November in the Farne Islands and Norfolk. Pups weigh about 15 kilograms at birth and are born with a fluffy white coat. They suckle from their mother for 18 to 21 days and gain about 2 kilograms of weight per day. Towards the end of the nursing period the mother mates with one or more males, and after the pup is fully weaned it is left to fend for itself. The pups stay at the breeding colony for three to four weeks until they are fully moulted, living off their blubber reserves, before they go to sea and learn how to swim and fish. (This information was taken from a leaflet published by the Broads Authority.).