On English Soil ... Seals at Blakeney Point on the North Norfolk Coast

Even back in the 1970s Beans Boats ran seal trips and my Mother went to see them. She was eighteen then and was none too keen to be on a family camping trip. In her old diary that she has since nosed into for me she has recorded the day in true teenage fashion:

'August 5th 1971. Grandma's birthday. In the morning  we went to Blakeny, walked around the village and along the quay. A lovely village. Went onto Wells-next-the-Sea, another nice town and had a meal there. It is quite a warm day. Went back to Blakeny and  took  a boat out to Blakeny Point, a bird sanctuary island, about half a mile to the island from the quay via channels as opposed to open sea. Returned at 7.30, came back to camp (Kelling Heath), had a drink, went to bed.'

Forty eight years later and my aunt and uncle have moved to North Norfolk, only a stone’s throw away from the Beans Boat harbour at Morston Quay. It was clear there would be no hesitation on my part to head out to Blakeney spit and to see seals in their natural habitat. Back in the 1970s I can only assume that there were no seals here otherwise surely Mum would have written about them.

Protected by the National Trust (our guide had a slightly different opinion), common and grey seals congregate to form the largest seal colony in the UK. Blakeny Point, upon whose sands the seals are found resting, has been part of a nature reserve since 1912 and there are over two and a half thousand seal pups born there each year. We were a little late in the year sadly, and so really only saw about forty odd seals and most of these were almost ready to head off to sea. The day though was wonderful, history was all about us and there were plenty of terns to tell apart, sandwich and little, arctic and common as well as a few oyster catchers and some ducks.

The grey seals never used to breed on the east coast of the UK but now they have found this sheltered beach they are making the most of their move from the west coast. This may however be to the detriment of the common or harbour seal who is less aggressive and potentially losing ground to the new arrivals.

Blakeney Point is a four mile sand and shingle spit that is growing each year, being built up from erosion further North on the shoreline. The birds are all drawn here because of the presence of sand dunes, mudflats and some salt marshes, and of course, the protection offered by the National Trust.

Despite not condoning all of the measures taken by the National Trust in protecting the land and the wildlife, our two guides aboard the boat were well weathered and had grown up in the town of Morston, had fished as young lads in this quay and further afield and remembered the days they could run wild on the sands of the point. They played their parts, one of them talking of gossip (as we motored past moored boats) and the other talking hardcore facts.

As we reached the seal colony (along with three other boats), Hardcore Fact Guide muttered under his breath at the presence of two sea kayaks. ‘Makes them nervous’ he said, ‘I reckon those kayaks mimic the shape of seal predators.’ Indeed the seals seemed wide awake, button eyes looking somewhat around and about us, but I’m not sure I could confidently say nervous. A couple of the seals had bloody stains on their faces, ‘comes with the bickering’ Hardcore told us, but the others were smooth and almost cute.

Suddenly one popped up in the water not far from us and for a few seconds inquisitively checked us out. We puttered away from the spit to see if we could find a few more in the water but scored only very brief sightings. Coming in parallel to the spit again we drifted as a couple of the younger seals cavorted getting further and further away as the water current took us away.

It might have been a short trip but it was well worth while and we finished it up by taking a walk on a pebbled beach further south that had views from its dunes all the way out to Blakeney Point.    

Tips for Erasmus students:

• There is lots of summer work at tourist hotspots like Blakeney Point, loading and unloading boats passenegers off the boats and in the coffee shops and pub/restuarants that litter the coast. 
• A fantastic exploring group to join as a student in the UK, even for a short time, is Explorers Connect as they do some wonderful adventure trips, some in this spectacular North Norfolk area.

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