BWPA announced on 19 March (2025) the winners of the 2025 British Wildlife Photography Awards. I am pleased to say that one of my images has been included in this year’s book, British Wildlife Photography Awards collection 13.
The image is part of the Marine & Coast category, see below some background about the image.
During autumn grey seals come ashore British beaches for the birth of their pups. While the females are giving birth and suckling the pups, the males are starting to establish territory to be there when the females become receptive for mating after the pups have been weaned. These two males intended to both control the same area of the beach, resulting in a tussle.
The UK is a stronghold for grey seals, with about 35-40% of the global population living in British waters. The Norfolk colonies on the English east coast have shown strong growth over the past decade, now representing some of the largest grey seal colonies in the UK. Although this is a great success story, the Norfolk coast is faced with erosion which is accelerated by increased storm activity as a result of climate change. This is a real threat to the beach and dune areas where the grey seals come ashore to give birth to their pups in November/December.
See the winners of the 2025 BWPA competition here. To see more of my British wildlife images, click here.
