Seal of approval

For a while my binoculars were trained on a mother and baby pair on the pebble beach far below. Mum's head rested on a stone pillow while she suckled her pup.  But then I spotted another seal in the water and I realised that she too was accompanied by a (slightly older) infant There was a brisk swell and waves were breaking noisily on the shingle. The mother and  youngster, still in its furry white baby coat, were celebrating a sort of aquatic communion, twisting, twirling, swirling in the churning water, curling and coiling around one another, only pausing  to touch noses now and then. While Mum remained watchful, scanning the bay,  her pup,  revelling in its new-found element, gyrated and somersaulted in a bubble bath of bliss.
Surviving the first few weeks of infancy ashore is a challenge but once launched the pup can look forward to a safer life at sea. It was a privilege to witness  its joyful introduction to the watery world.

More pics in extras, and one of the little sucker too.