Grey seals to be filmed at night for the first time
- Thread starter Blackleaf
- Start date
:lol:
Of course, we could have decided to stay at home and not gone to North America. But had we done that, neither Canada nor the United States would exist today and you would probably have been British. You see, you Canadians keep forgetting things like that whenever you rail against the glorious British Empire.
But NOTHING excuses the barbaric practice of clubbing wild animals to death just so that you can wear them in the 21st Century.
Only the Mutherland would say that the 'ingrates' saying killing and reservations don't work would call it open rebellion against what is a perfect system already, if it wasn't the Monarchs would be able to eat as often as they do.
Why bring Syria and Iran into this? Pot-kettle-black-nuff said. Tell me again where the head office of the Hudson Bay Fur Traders was? Moscow perhaps?
Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge that you killed a lot of people so we could have 'this'. The part that 'gets complicated' is when you say we can't make any changes to the original model. Is that because the original model has no flaws of because you find change more than a little difficult?
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The "secret" nocturnal sex life of England's largest seal colony has been filmed for the first time by BBC wildlife cameras.
Military-grade thermal imaging cameras revealed young bulls "sneaking" into territories under cover of darkness to mate with mature bulls' harems.
The number of grey seal pups born at Blakeney Point in Norfolk reached an all-time high of 2,426 in 2014-15.
Winterwatch presenter Iolo Williams said the footage was "incredible".
"Sitting on the reserve under moonlight with more than 4,000 seals was the experience of a lifetime," he said.
"We were able to observe the younger bulls get in and mate with the females.
The new series of Winterwatch, with Chris Packham, Martin Hughes-Games, Michaela Strachan and Iolo Williams, starts at 9pm tomorrow night on BBC Two and will be coming live from the Scottish Highlands as the team look at the challenges facing British wildlife over the winter.
Winterwatch: Norfolk Blakeney Point seals filmed at night for first time
By Martin Barber BBC News, East
17 January 2015
The Blakeney Point colony has been filmed using thermal imaging cameras
The "secret" nocturnal sex life of England's largest seal colony has been filmed for the first time by BBC wildlife cameras.
Military-grade thermal imaging cameras revealed young bulls "sneaking" into territories under cover of darkness to mate with mature bulls' harems.
The number of grey seal pups born at Blakeney Point in Norfolk reached an all-time high of 2,426 in 2014-15.
Winterwatch presenter Iolo Williams said the footage was "incredible".
"Sitting on the reserve under moonlight with more than 4,000 seals was the experience of a lifetime," he said.
"We were able to observe the younger bulls get in and mate with the females.
Blakeney Point is a four-mile long spit of shingle and sand dunes, salt marshes, tidal mudflats and reclaimed farmland jutting out into the North Sea from the north Norfolk coast. It is a National Nature Reserve
The Blakeney Point seal colony has grown by about 25% year-on-year for more than a decade
Presenter Iolo Williams said filming the seal colony at night was the "experience of a lifetime"
"The older bulls guard their harem against others and in the day they can see them coming, but at night the small, younger bulls were able to sneak in and mate and we didn't know this."
The wildlife team said it was a "privilege" to observe the colony at such close quarters.
Producer Bill Markham said: "It was fantastic. We didn't know what to expect. We had a few theories, but this camera allowed us to see in incredible detail at night."
Observing the colony at night will help the conservation of the species
Despite attempts for "highly charged illicit nookie" some of the younger bulls were scared off by the older males "body-slapping" on the sand.
A "unique behaviour" sees the males "lift themselves up and let themselves go so this mass of blubber slaps down against the wet sand to warn off other males", said Mr Williams.
"It was interesting to see what the males were doing - it's a highly competitive, highly charged environment," added Mr Markham.
"Twenty-six stones of seal slamming down reverberates through the sand and you could feel these shockwave rippling up the beach."
Territorial battles in the colony can leave some adult seals scarred
Thousands of people visit the remote stretch of Norfolk coast to see the seal colony
Mr Williams added: "We're able to show, for the first time, they do this a lot a night.
"We learn new things constantly when new technology becomes available to us.
"To observe the grey seals at night allows us to see behaviour that up until now just hasn't been available to us and we can use this to help their conservation."
Seals fight to protect their territory within the 4,000-strong colony
The reserve is a four-mile-long spit where dunes have formed over hundreds of years on the shingle ridge
The seal colony on the National Trust reserve in north Norfolk is now the biggest in England, with the population having exceeded pupping levels on the Farne Islands in Northumberland and Donna Nook in Lincolnshire.
Winterwatch returns to BBC Two at 21:00 GMT on Monday 19 January.
Winterwatch 2015: BBC Two - Winterwatch
BBC News - Winterwatch: Norfolk Blakeney Point seals filmed at night for first time