Words From the Shore - The Art of Seal Watching
- hello554331
- Feb 25
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 26
I have swam with seals a few times in my life. Usually at a distance and usually with just one or two beautiful creatures that somehow seem to carry a little magic with them, as their silken heads and big eyes appear in the water. My only close encounter happened a few years ago at Fishcombe Cove on the South Devon coast. I swam off in to the sea at first light, leaving my husband and daughter on the beach. In still, cold water, I became aware of snorting, heavy breathing and an intense fishy smell as a seal’s head swam into my line of vision. Knowing I should avoid eye contact, and treat it a little bit like a wild dog, I swam on trying to channel my inner calm. The only way was forward as the cliffs are pretty high and there was no way out until I could get back to the beach. It felt like a long time, a very long time, as I swam on listening to its breathing and feeling my heart beating. Back in the shallows I was able to stand and watch it gliding through the water- a reminder that I would never be able to out-swim it. Such a beautiful sight, but for me seals at a distance are more beautiful than up close, at least that is what I thought then. A man had been standing on the cliff and later spoke to my husband saying that the seal was so close to me that it looked as if our bodies were touching as we swam along together. I love that image and just wish I had a photo of it. I haven’t had a close up seal encounter for a few years, until a couple of days ago, that is…
I’ve just returned from spending a week in Norfolk, watching the birds and sketching in some wild places. After reading that at this time of year, many grey seals would be gathering on the beach at Horsey Gap, we decided to go and see for ourselves. We drove from Reedham up to the North coast of Norfolk, stopping at Holt and then Cromer before winding our way along the coastline to Horsey Gap. We hadn’t realized quite how many miles we would be covering and quite how late in the day it would be before we arrived at the beach. We parked up at half past four and raced to the beach. I love sand dune flanked pathways to a beach and this one was perfect as there is an incline and then as you cross the brow the roar of the waves and the crashing foam flood your senses.
At first, we thought we might have mis-judged the tides as well as the daylight but luckily there was still some beach to walk along. A concrete, stepped walkway leads you between the sand and the the dunes and ahead of us the beach was divided into sections by groynes. We had read that we needed to make sure that we were never between the seals and the sea because if they get spooked they head for the water and anything in their way would be crushed. Unfortunately, some visitors don't respect their space and this has led to pups being killed as all 300 pounds of an adult seal makes an escape to the sea.
With Joey on his lead we marched on through the biting Norfolk wind and just past the first groyne we were rewarded with the sight of the seals- huge driftwood-like beasts had hauled themselves onto the sand, silhouettes against the big skies. We were speechless, as at first we saw one, then two then before we knew it we had counted dozens of seal statues lying silently on the sand. There is a 10 metre distance rule but actually 10 metres is pretty close and we felt close enough without going anywhere near 10 metres.
The first thing that struck me about the seals was their size, then their stillness and then the patterns and colours of their coats. Some were almost white and others completely black. The rest were somewhere in between. Mottled coats nestled amongst every shade of grey brown. The closer we were, the stronger the fishy smell of them became as it hit the back of your throat with a vengence. Joey suddenly noticed them and sprung into being our great protector. Although his barks were carried away on the wind, I took him back to the car so that we could watch silently and drink in this spectacle before us.
As well as the group on the beach, a few seals were swimming, covering distance at incredible speed. From this place of grace, they would make their way to shore heaving themselves up on their flippers. The progress was slow and ungainly as little-by-little they dragged themselves out of the surf and up the beach leaving sand trails in their wake. Some seals would make a noise, almost a bark, and some of the smaller ones started to become more active scooting across the beach and rubbing themselves into the sand. Flippers would extend to scratch heads and tails and every so often one of them would flip up like a fortune fish. I could have watched them for hours. We had the whole beach to ourselves – just us and over 200 seals.
At Horsey Gap, the dunes sit above the sand and there are many paths into them which take you to sandy platforms on which you can sit and quietly observe. We wandered along the dunes and each groyne we passed led us to yet another seal colony and although a little further away, you get a wonderful birds eye view.
I was glad I had my binoculars and sketch book. I stood and drew as the light fell away. I was alone by this point as the others had retreated to the warmth of the car. I found myself humming, which often happens when I am totally absorbed in sketching something outside and find myself in a flow state. When it became hard to distinguish the marks on the paper and where one seal stopped and another began it was also time for me to leave my windblown platform. I suddenly realized how alone I was on those freshly dark dunes but I felt so calm and so full of awe of these amazing creatures. It is like an extra energy fills me and I need to create from this energy.
What a wonderful experience and how honoured I felt to be that close to this amazing spectacle of nature. It turns out that we were lucky with our timing as in February, after pupping season, the seals shed their old coats and so gather in their thousands on this stretch of Norfolk coastline for about six weeks. It was a marvel and now knowing their size I was so happy to be watching them from dry land and not from the cold sea at Fishcombe.
My sketchbook is full of seal drawings now and I wonder how these will present themselves as paintings. It is the emotion and the feeling that I always to try to capture in an abstracted way rather than anything representational. I can close my eyes and in my mind’s eye I am back with those seals, with the wind on my face, a smile on my lips and a contented heart. Watch this space to see what appears.
Copyright © Charlotte Ellis 2026. All rights reserved
I love how you write, and thank youfor sharing this amazing time x hx