Seals

We got up at 6.45am - officially far too early for a Sunday morning - and drove down to Burnham with Mum and met Greg's parents before our seal watching trip. We climbed aboard the Lady Essex and spent two hours bobbing around the waters near Wallasea Island. Our skipper was so knowledgeable, and gave us a really thorough guide of the river and islands around it; including the lowdown of the Cross Rail mud-dumping ground and MOD land on Foulness Island. We saw herons, egrets and finally.... seals! It was looking unlikely for ages as the tide was really high, but we spotted a few swimming and diving in the water, which lead the captain to make the risky decision to sail into a shallow estuary. We did nearly get stuck in the mud when he had to make a seven-point turn to get out, but it was well worth it as there were about twenty beautiful common seals laying on the banks and swimming in the sea. They were amazing; some were bright orange due to a combination of their age, food (soft crabs) and the local mud. Their colour makes them easy to track and they've been spotted as far as the Bay of Biscay. They all have such sad eyes, and are so entertaining to watch; especially as they flop into the water. They should be around the area for another month or so before they head off for their winter mating season. It was such a great morning and once we'd got back to shore we all went for a wander along the quayside in Burnham before a really good pub lunch, followed by an ice cream by the water.