Record number of grey seal pups born at ex-military site

A record number of grey seal pups have been born at a remote shingle spit that was once a Cold War weapons-testing site.

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The number of seal pups counted at Orford Ness on the Suffolk coast this pupping season stands at 430 - almost double the previous year's total of 228 arrivals.

The National Trust said the first 200 adult seals arrived at the site in 2021 when visitor access was significantly reduced following an extended closure amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Numbers have increased each year since, with 25 grey seal pups born in the 2021-22 season; 66 in 2022-23; 133 in 2023-24, and 228 in 2024-25.

It is thought the seals initially spilled over from colonies in Norfolk, including at Blakeney and at Horsey, and are now Suffolk's first breeding grey seal colony.