Grey Seal Pupping Season

Pembrokeshire holds one of the most important grey seal populations in southern Britain, and every autumn the cows haul out into the coves to give birth. The pups are white, fat and immobile for the first three weeks, feeding on milk that is roughly half fat, then they moult, the mother leaves, and they teach themselves to swim and hunt.

Where to watch. Anywhere with a cove below a clifftop path. The Martin's Haven and Deer Park area at Marloes is reliable. So is the coast around Abereiddi, the cliffs on the Ramsey side of the sound, Ceibwr Bay and the Witches Cauldron near Moylegrove, and the cliffs at Stackpole. Take binoculars — the whole point is to stay far enough away that you need them.

The rules, and they matter. Stay on the clifftop. Never go down onto a beach with pups on it. A disturbed cow will abandon a pup, and an abandoned pup starves. Keep dogs on leads and away from the edge. Do not fly a drone over a haul-out: it is the single most reliable way to panic a colony into the water, and pups get crushed in the stampede.

The odds. Very good in September and October, and the pups are easy to spot — bright white against dark rock. Early November can catch the tail of the season; by Christmas the pups have gone, and what you will see then is adults. Storms are the risk, both for the pups, which get washed off beaches, and for your view.

If you find a pup alone on a mainland beach, leave it alone and call the local marine life rescue.