A new seal!

We are lucky enough to have a large seal haul-out at the mouth of our local river, the Ythan. Most of the seals are grey seals Halichoerus grypus. This year at leat one of them has given birth on the beach producing this little fellow in white. The mother is lying at the edge of the water covered in sand.
Grey seals come into oestrus and mate two weeks after giving birth to their pup. Our youngster is now 2 weeks old and the large bull to the left of the mother is doubtless awaiting his opportunity.
Grey seals lactate for only about 3 weeks, feeding their pup on prodigious amounts of milk with a 55% fat content. During this period the mother fasts and loses up to 40% of her body weight. Our pup will be weaned in another week, at the age of some 21 days, by which time it should weigh more than 60 kilograms! Then it will be abandoned and it will be on its own!