Seal sighting off Dorset coast

Peter Swatton, a professional photographer and avid wildlife enthusiast, was walking along the promenade two weeks ago when he spotted something floating in the water.

He said: “I first saw the Grey Seal about a year ago off Hengistbury Head. It went away for a while and people said that they saw one over towards Highcliffe.

“Personally, I hadn’t seen it for almost a year until a week and a half ago I was walking along the beach at Southbourne, Bournemouth, and I saw something out in the water.

“Luckily, I had my camera on me, so I took it out and zoomed in on it and it was the grey seal just bobbing about in the shallows around 20 feet from the shore.

“There weren’t many people there on the beach. Usually when there is a spotting like this, word would get around people would stand around and try and see it. I was quite fortunate that I had the beach almost to myself.”

The grey seal is the larger of the two UK seal species, with some measuring over two metres and can be distinguished from the common seal by its larger size and longer head.

Peter was lucky enough to watch and take photos of the seal for 10 minute of Southbourne seafront before the animal disappeared under the surface.

When it reappeared, it was far out to sea heading int the direction of Hengistbury head.

Peter finally uploaded the pictures to the SoBo Facebook page on Thursday September 30 and has received a lot of praise for his photos.

He added: “You don’t often see grey seals around here. I see Harbor seals pretty often as there are several in Christchurch Harbour and Poole Harbour and we are between the two.

“You could definitely tell it was a grey seal from the size of it and the shape of its head. Harbour Seals are cuter and look more like dogs.

“Whether I will see it again I don’t know. With the weather getting colder and the water temperature dropping it is more likely, but you never know with these things.”