Seal pups on the Blasket Islands

Pupping season is here again! At this time of year the grey seals start to congregate around the Blaskets. The mums-to-be mostly hang out around Beginish and give birth to cute little bundles of fur (known as 'whitecoats'). The pups are pretty helpless and spend all their time lying around on the pebbly beaches sleeping and waiting for the mums to come ashore and feed them. After only three weeks or so they grow to big fat seals and begin moult - losing their white fur in favour of a sleek layer of blubber. Around this time the mums leave them to fend for themselves and they have to learn to swim and fish for themselves. In the meantime the males begin to get interested in the females that have given birth and mating takes place. Juvenile males that are not ready to mate hang around the White Strand on the Great Blasket - at the moment there are around 100 or so hauled out on the beach. After all the mating activity has finished the seals begin to disperse, many of them making their way as far afield as Scotland where they stay until the pupping season begins again next year. Now is a great time to take a trip out the Blasket Islands to see all the activity.