Helping Seals Thrive
The Atlantic Grey seal colony at Horsey and Winterton is one of Britain’s great wildlife spectacles. The flat beaches, shallow waters and high dunes offer seals an ideal location for giving birth. The work of Friends of Horsey Seals (FoHS) to protect the seals from disturbance and injury is vital for the long-term survival of the colony.
Photo by Laura Lake
Emergency?
If you see any seals in difficulty, please contact the FoHS Rescue Team on 07706 314514
or the RSPCA on 0300 1234999.
28th November 2023
2023-24 SEASON – WEEK ONE
3rd October 2023
Friends of Horsey Seals Autumn Newsletter
30th September 2023
Friends Guided Walks
View More
Message from our chairman…
Welcome and thank you for visiting our website and for your interest in Friends of Horsey Seals, a group that was formed in 2011 to continue a project started a decade earlier to help grey seals thrive in North-East Norfolk. In 2016 the group was accepted as a charity.
The website is arranged to help you find the information you want about seals and our activities by using the tabs across the top of the screen. You can also find ways to help or support us, if that is your wish. We hope you enjoy using the website and find its contents interesting and informative.
Our area of wardening activity, initially at Horsey, hence the name of the group, eventually spread to include the dunes and beaches at Winterton-on-Sea as more and more grey seals returned annually to the beaches to give birth from November into January.
To maintain effective help to the seals in the face of this growth, our team of volunteers also has to grow. Seal wardens were founder members of Friends of Horsey Seals, and some of the originals are still with us. They, and others, are seasoned wardens of several years while newer people come and go.
I am grateful to everyone who gives their time so generously to help the charity achieve its aims.
We recruit annually and, if volunteering with Friends of Horsey Seals interests you, please click on the How You can Help tab.
While a route for seal viewing at Horsey was established initially by Natural England, who’s advice we continue to welcome, their practical help in funding the chestnut-paling fence on the low dunes at Winterton was particularly useful and welcomed.
The viewing corridor that follows this line of fencing keeps visitors and seals apart. Visitors can observe the seals in safety with reduced disturbance to females with pups, and the annual growth in numbers is confirmation of breeding success.
The Charity runs a seal rescue team of FoHS volunteers trained by the RSPCA. Members of the team respond to increasing numbers of call-outs to help trapped, sick, or injured seals. With the help of various grants
and public generosity the Charity has acquired vehicles and specialized equipment to aid the rescue team in their work, and vehicles to transport seals needing medical care.
I want to express my special thanks to our 350+ trained volunteer seal wardens who turn out in all weathers over the pupping and moulting seasons, and work so hard to make a difference.
As a small charity run by volunteers we rely on the generosity of local businesses and individuals for their donations to help fund what we do. So, sincere thanks to all our donors, including our Friends, whose annual subscriptions helps us to pay our way.
I also thank our partners for their help and support, including Natural England and the RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Centre, and especially the proprietors of both the Horsey and Winterton car parks for allowing us free access throughout and their generous help in other ways.
Both common and grey seals are protected species and 40% of the world’s Atlantic Grey seal population lives around UK shores. That is why it is important that we help them to thrive.
We thank you for your interest.
