Give the Gower and Heritage Coast seals room on the sand

Grey seals use the Gower and the Heritage Coast from late summer into autumn. Cows haul out to pup. The pups stay on the sand for days. They look abandoned. They are waiting for the next feed.

A pup that is boxed in will not crawl back to the cow. A dog that barks at the heap of fur on the wrack is enough. Pouring water on it, or dragging it towards the breakers, does more harm than the tide ever did.

That is when the path fills. Rhossili takes the coaches. Three Cliffs and Oxwich take the people who think they have found a quiet cove. Dogs run the tideline. Phones come out. A circle forms.

A pup that is boxed in will not crawl back to the cow. A dog that barks at the heap of fur on the wrack is enough. Pouring water on it, or dragging it towards the breakers, does more harm than the tide ever did.

Keep sixty metres if you can, dogs on a lead, and walk past. The National Trust and the City and County of Swansea print the same advice on the boards at the cliff path. If a pup is cut or tangled, use the rescue number on those boards. Do not make yourself the rescue.

The seals will use these beaches again next year. The only part that changes is how close the crowd stands.

Liberty Lux News