Seal spotting - Blakeney Point

I know that generally I blog about things to do in Essex, but I can't help pushing the boundaries out for this great place, especially on a Summer's day, and it is still very accessible from Essex and what a fabulous trip it is!  Blakeney National Nature Reserve. Blakeney Point has been in the care of the National Trust since 1912 - so 100 years! 

We set off on Saturday morning for a seal boat trip at 12.30pm from Morston Quay.  It was a lovely sunny day with a bit of a wind that picked up - so a tip for everyone - do bring a lightweight jacket just in case.  I learnt from this story as I decided one minute before the boat arrived that I would need my coat and so had to make my boyfriend run and get it and we missed the first boat (there was another one shortly after).  So off we set...check out the pictures...

Approaching the seals

I especially wanted to come for early August as there are several hundred common harbour seals which can be seen relaxing on the sandbanks around the Point, and some of them had just given birth to pups, and a lot   of them were heavily pregnant.  There are also the grey seals, and they normally pup in the winter time.

There were also some seals around 7-8 months old which swam up to the boat, as they were more curious than their elders, unfortunately I didn't manage to get a picture of that as I was too busy being excited over the edge of the boat.  The whole trip lasts about an hour, you have around 20 minutes to check out the seals, the tour operator will circle around the seals so that everyone has a perfect view and a good chance to take pictures/videos of the seals - I did both.

having a little rest

Mr fluffy ginger

all the seals together

having a little scratch

On the way back to Morston Quay

It was such a great trip and I recommend it to everyone, it cost us £9 each (for adults), and here is the site if you would like to book at Beans Boat Trips and you can get more information.  You can also check them out on Facebook and Twitter @beansboattrips and don't forget to follow me too if you want to see more days out ! @chelmsfordienne

After our seal-tastic visit we then went to spend the rest of the day at Cromer, which will follow in my next post...