Saw a seal today!!

I walked the dogs along the river Adur in Shoreham today with a friend & her dogs. We met someone we know & she told us there was a seal basking in the sun on the sandbanks further down the river. We set off to have a look, thinking that they'd seen a log or something. But sure enough there was a large seal on the sandbanks on the opposite side of the river We watched for ages, just in case it was injured but it was moving ok & seemed to be fine. We walked for about an hour & came back to see if it was still there. By this time the tide had come in & it was right by the water's edge. As we watched it heaved itself further up the sandbanks away from the water, then rolled over on it's side, lying in the sun.

i know this probably isn't very exciting for those of you that live near seal colonies, but we've never heard of seal being in the estuary of the River Adur! We contacted Sussex Wildlife rescue just to alert them in case it needed some help & apparently they suspect there's a colony around somewhere as there have been other sitings.

I've a slightly blurry photo on my phone so when I get round to uploading it, I'll see if I can post it here.

Aww im inland so it is exciting to me!! cant wait to see it

I remember when we were kids one sunny bank holiday we drove to the coast
My little sister was in the water and we were up on the beach, only my family on this deserted beach
and behind her up poped a seal
we called her but when she looked around it ducked under the water
then when she turned back it followed her, ducking down every time she turned but seemed to be having a great time messing around with her

They are lovely, I could sit and watch them for ages too

what a special walk you had

Aww how fab I love seals. I have seen a few when on holiday in the NW Highlands and also on the Northumberland coastline in the past - but still think they are exciting

Glad to hear it was just enjoying the sunshine, and not in any trouble

I love them, there is nearly always one in the cove near us.
My son had a Blue Peter badge (nearly 30 years ago!) for writing to tell them about it
They drive Pepsi mad because she is always on lead the Seal is always just out of reach and she gets very cross

They are cheeky creatures! I'd love to dive with them ~ so graceful under water but lumbering & awkward out of water. Of all the 5 dogs we had with us, only the ridgeback/lurcher spotted it ~ & she just stood stared at it for ages The other dogs happily played & splashed around in the water, totally oblivious to the seal

It was a lovely walk, saw cormorants & egrets fishing too so it's nice to know the river is healthy enough at the estuary to support all this wildlife

I've never seen one in the wild, only zoos. I'm tempted to go back tomorrow to see if it's still around, but I bathed the dogs this afternoon & I don't want them in the salty river water ~ at least for a few days I can have dogs that smell of teatree oil shampoo instead of "eau de labrador"

Wow, you lucky thing. We walk up the Adur from Shoreham now and again so I shall be keeping my eyes peeled!! The only time I've seen them in the wild was in Cardigan Bay in Wales. Even though we were watching them from the top of the cliff it was a huge thrill to see them.

It was on the left hand bank as you go north, very near Cuckoo Corner where Lancing College has the sailing boats, just on the sandbanks near there. Good luck if you go

Well me and Claire had a walk up there today but didnt spot it. What an unexpected thing to see on a dog walk. And we got excited enough seeing deer!!