Season's first grey seal pups born on Helgoland
The season’s first grey seal pups have been born on the dunes of the North Sea island Helgoland, animal experts reported on Monday.
Two fuzzy female babies are healthy, Helgoland seal expert Rolf Blaedel told news agency DDP. The first, “Nora,” was born last week. The second female has yet to be named, he said.
The small island, some 70 kilometres off of the northern German coast, is currently home to 250 grey seals and about 250 harbour seals. But grey seals have only used the island to nurse their newborns since 1995, he said. Last year a record 55 grey seals were born on the island.
The silvery sea mammals weigh about 14 kilogrammes at birth and grow to weigh some 300 kilogrammes at some 2.3 metres long.
The new baby girls won’t take their first swim until they are between three and four weeks old. Then they will learn to hunt some 6 kilogrammes per day in cod, flounder, salmon, herring and mackerel.
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Two fuzzy female babies are healthy, Helgoland seal expert Rolf Blaedel told news agency DDP. The first, “Nora,” was born last week. The second female has yet to be named, he said.
The small island, some 70 kilometres off of the northern German coast, is currently home to 250 grey seals and about 250 harbour seals. But grey seals have only used the island to nurse their newborns since 1995, he said. Last year a record 55 grey seals were born on the island.
The silvery sea mammals weigh about 14 kilogrammes at birth and grow to weigh some 300 kilogrammes at some 2.3 metres long.
The new baby girls won’t take their first swim until they are between three and four weeks old. Then they will learn to hunt some 6 kilogrammes per day in cod, flounder, salmon, herring and mackerel.
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