In England the.Grey Seal has been met vwith in a few localities; it has
occurred, as a straggler, in the Channel, having been found in the Channel
Islands, on the Eddystone, and on the coasts of the Isle of Wight and Sussex.1
Of the’ Grey Seals at Scilly, Mr. T. A. Dorrien-Smith kindly sends me the
following note, May 14, 1902. ‘ .Undoubtedly the Grey Seal exists at Scilly, and
in considerable numbers; I have seen, as many as-twelve on a rock together, and
twenty or thirty in one small group of islands at the same time. The largest
we have killed weighed 672 lbs,, just 6 cwt., but I have-often seen them up to.
5 cwt. We seldom shoot more than two or three in the year, but I sometimes
take the young ones in the autumn and give their skins in the form eft cartridge
bags to my friends. Seal Island in Scilly iF so called because of a curiously
shaped rock on the top of this island which resembles a Seal when first disturbed,
head and tail up on the look out. There are, however, a good many Seals
generally to be seen in its vicinity.’ The Seals in Scilly are not allowed to be
shot; Mr. Dorrien-Smith strictly preserves them there.
By the kind invitation of Mr. Dorrien-Smith I visited Scilly at the beginning
of May 1903, and during successive days my host took me. in his steam launch
to most of the islands frequented by Grey Seal. Rosvean and Rosvear, high
rocky islands exposed to the full force of the Atlantic storms, of course their
favourite haunt, and though they may leave the vicinity of other Seal islands in
quest of moving fish, the Grey Seals are always to be found about these exposed
rocks. Being anxious to obtain an adult male in the black pelage, I went to
Rosvean on a fine sunny day (May 12), and almost;;^ soon as I commenced to
spy— it being dead low water— I saw a big grey male high up on an isolated
rock at the west end of Rosvean. The stalk was rather an arduous one, as these
western islands are cut into immense boulders each as large as a good-siaed house,
and intersected by sea channels. You have no sooner got over one house than
you must descend to cross a river, and then the river may be too wide, so you
have to go all the way back again and signal your boatman to help you over the
difficulty. Three times I thus required the assistance of the boat, and each time
I feared the big Seal would see us as we rounded a corner in view. But, to
make a long story short, I eventually got within a hundred yards of the Seal, to be
greeted with sounds like several cows mooing on my left hand. Looking carefully
over the low cliff I saw five other big male Grey Seals lying on a low sloping
rock only about three feet above the water’s edge. One of these seemed to me to
1 Zoologist, 1899, p. 320.
be jet-black, the blackest example I have ever seen, and needless to relate, I much
desired his skin. But it was not to be. The bullet hit him through the neck,
and he lay perfectly still, at which I naturally concluded he was quite dead.
Rising to my feet, I immediately ran to the top of the island and signalled the
boatman to come at once. It so chanced that from this high point I could see
the whole scene, and to my consternation I saw my grypus recovering rapidly, and
trying to roll over. At the risk of breaking my legs I now hastened back to the
point of firing and put two other bullets in the beast as he rolled over in the
water and became motionless in death. The current drifted him about ten yards,
and he sank just as the energetic boatman appeared to gather the prize. It was
one of the many disappointments every hunter of Seals must put up with, but it
was particularly hard to lose an example of the rare black type, this being the
third I had shot at and lost.1 Other Seals appeared after the shots, some big fellows
coming within a few yards of me, but one could not see bottom, so I refrained
from firing. Altogether I counted eleven adult Seals at this point. Mr. Dorrien-
Smith says there are usually about this number at most seasons, but they
undergo a considerable increase in August, gathering for the breeding season in
September. Going back in low spirits an immature Grey Seal came up over a
shallow sea channel about thirty yards from the boat, so I put a bullet through
his neck. He floated well, although in a considerable wash, but ‘ Jack’ the
Scillian easily recovered him. He was a nice specimen in the eight months coat,
but hardly compensated for the loss of the black bull.
Another day was spent searching the eastern islands for Grey Seals, but without
success. Although there are usually a fair number scattered about the outer
group we saw only one, an adult female.
The Grey Seal is undoubtedly the Seal of Scilly, and not the Common Seal, as
has been stated in many books. Mr. Dorrien-Smith is not sure that he has ever
seen the latter in Scilly.
Proceeding northwards, the next breeding station of the Grey Seal is said to
be certain caves on the north coast of Cornwall. But this requires confirmation,
and I doubt if it is there as a resident. Certainly of late years several white
pups of the Grey Seal have been taken on the Cornish coast, but there is no
evidence to show that these youngsters had not been driven from Scilly by the
first equinoctial gales.
The Grey Seal has been taken at Colchester in Essex,2 on several occasions
1 Mr. Dorrien-Smith has never seen a specimen of the black type in Scilly. 2 Ann. Mag. Nat. H ist. 1841.