GALLERY: Storm-damaged camera returns rare seal birth photos

Tuesday 01 September 2020

Wildlife experts received a surprise when a camera at the Miniquiers they assumed to be damaged by a storm was recently returned to them with rare images of a seal birth.

The camera, set up to take a photo every hour, was placed last autumn by the Societé Jersiaise Marine Biology Section, with the intention of capturing roosting birds for a couple of weeks.

Amid difficult weather conditions, a decision was taken to leave the camera there.

However, when it was finally retrieved, they found that not only was it intact, but that it had over 3,000 images – including the birth of a seal.

Pictured: The camera was set up at the Minquiers to take photos of birds.

The “happy event” took place between 08:00 and 09:00 on 16 October 2019, days before a storm rolled in.

Ahead of the bad weather’s arrival, the mother and pup can be seen resting and feeding on the rock in the days that followed prior to the storm, sometimes joined by another visiting seal.

Speaking to Express, Société Marine Biology Section Chairman Gareth Jeffreys said how it was an “extreme surprise” to capture the birth in the north-west of the Minquiers, explaining that the “exposed” nature of the area has previously made it difficult to keep track of the seal life.  

He added that it is the first documented confirmation of seals giving birth in the Bailiwick as far as they are aware, saying they knew “they must do it somewhere around Jersey – we are finding young pups washed up ashore around the mainland, but there’s never been an actual, properly verified incident of it happening.” 

Talking of how the findings will impact future research, he noted that it “shows how effective the time lapse cameras can be keeping track of the different numbers in different areas”, and that they will be pushing to try and capture more in future to understand both the seal and bird life of the islands better.

GALLERY: A selection of the seal snaps...