Murder....we think...

This afternoon we witnessed a very dramatic event taking place in North Haven.
The Seal pup that was born a few days ago was seen swimming up and down the coast of North Haven, looking for its Mum. It then struck out for the middle of the Bay.

What happened next stunned us all.

A bull seal came up by the pup and grabbed it by its rear flippers, then dragged it underwater for a few seconds. Both of them came back up and the pup called and struggled. The Bull got a better grip and with a vicious flick of its head was back under water and neither of them were seen again.

We are all a bit stumped and have not really heard of this kind of thing before.....was the Bull intentionally killing the pup......was he playing with it........did he think it was some food....? It is hard to say what instinct he was reacting to. This bull (called 'Marbled Bull' due to his markings) has held territory on this beach for the last two years, so there is even a chance that this was his own offspring! Sadly this pup had not been fed much and has been wandering around calling for its Mum for the last couple of days (well fed pups just tend to sleep). So perhaps this dramatic end has saved it from a slower death.