Watching the ‘hooked nose seapigs’ (translation from the Greek) flumping across freezing Norfolk sands, it might seem a stretch of the imagination to identify them with the mythical selkies – those beautiful, adoring, skin shedding creatures who are both prey and predator. These gentle shape shifters will come to you if you stand heartbroken, letting fall seven tears into the high tide of ocean waves, yearning release from a loveless marriage and see from those waves the gentle alluring selkie who may come forth shedding his seal skin to take you for his own. Or happen on Midsummers eve, to chance upon bare beauties, their discarded seal skins laying close by. Steal the skin of one of those enchanting creatures if you wish to keep one as a wife of your own.
North Norfolk is famed for seals who seem to love our coastline as much as we take pleasure in seeing them- whether that be as we swim in their sea and with a gasp! chance upon the deep dark well of eyes popping up just a few feet away or whether it is taking delight from a distance, watching the winter wonder of seal pups and mating rituals. Their numbers are rising dramatically and with no natural predators, we must ensure we mirror this trust and not ourselves become their predator, coming too close with our clumsy careless curiosity and our obsessive vanity of reflected glory for the perfect picture, trampling down the dunes and scaring them to their death.
Contact Norfolk Wildlife Trust for where to see when.
Cromer Sea & Sound 