Grey Seal Pup

For about two weeks now, a small Grey Seal pup has taken up residence on Solfach. Usually, Grey Seals don't stay long on this beach, because it tends to get quite a lot of disturbance. At this time of year, however, there are almost no people on the island, besides ourselves.
This seal pup has taken a great interest in my hide, and everything associated with it (wooden stakes in the sand, guy cords etc.). It has spent a large proportion of its time 'playing' and hauling out right next to my hide. This has given me a good opportunity to get some very close up images from within my hide. By using a fish eye lens and poking it out of the bottom, I have been able to get extremely close to the pup. In fact, the pup is so curious that on several occasions it has almost forced its way into the hide, and I have had to clean my lens several times after the pup has smudged its nose across the centre of the lens. I have also taken the opportunity of this tame pup to get some other images, particularly back-lit with the setting sun.

A couple of my favourite close-ups (more further down)

Back-lighting with the setting sun works really well with seals, and especially with tame pups such as this one

A selection of extreme close-ups: