January 13, 2021 3.42 pm This story is over 38 months old

Record number of seal pups born at Donna Nook in 2020

And they’ve now returned to the sea

A record number of over 2,000 grey seal pups were born at Donna Nook in 2020.

The first pup of the season arrived at around 3pm on October 22 last year, with the last being born on December 22.

The colony of grey seals at Donna Nook has been increasing year on year and this trend has continued, but people were unable to watch the births as normal as the viewing area had to be closed during the seal pupping season due to coronavirus restrictions.

In 2019, 2,186 baby seals were born and this was beaten by a new record total of 2,214 in 2020.

The seals have now left the viewing area and returned to the sea.

The last seal pup of the season at Donna Nook was born on December 22, 2020. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust

Rachel Shaw from Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust told The Lincolnite: “We know many people were disappointed that the COVID-19 restrictions meant the viewing area had to be closed during the seal pupping season.

“We would like to thank everyone for their understanding and the messages of support. Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust staff continued to be present on site to manage the situation and monitor the colony.”

Donna Nook during the first week of January 2021. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust

The Stonebridge car park at Donna Nook is open, but the trust is encouraging people not to travel outside of their local area and to continue to enjoy wildlife close to home.

See more photos from the recent seal pupping season below (from November and December 2020):

New born seal pup at Donna Nook. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust

Sleepy seal pup at Donna Nook. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust

Donna Nook pup suckling. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust

Moulting its white pup coat at Donna Nook. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust

Inquisitive looking seal pup at Donna Nook. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust

Ropeneck and her pup, who was born on November 25, 2020. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust