Have you seen a male Grey Seal?

The Grey Seals around Orkney are a classic combination of curious and wary.

They are alternately fascinated by me and worried by me.

I do everything I can to put their minds at ease.

There’s a relatively young Grey Seal here on the bay where they haul-out to rest and digest.

There’s also what looks like a female. This was taken a coupe of months before they normally give birth on isolated coves around the coast. It really is enormous.

But I can’t really say that I’ve ever seen a male Grey Seal.

There’s a furious domestic dispute going on. Claws are drawn, teeth are bared and bulk is hefted around the beach.

Claws seems to be their primary initial weapon.

Then I see it. A Grey Seal like no other. Massive, dark and with a distorted face. It’s a bull Grey Seal:

It’s magnificent.

Nose to nose with a female, their heads are such a different size and shape.

Both are very different from this youngster.

It’s time for me to creep down the slope again and leave them in peace.