Orkney birdwatching, wildlife & culture holidays.  Self-catering also available.

Seal Pupping Weeks - 18 & 25 October 2008

The Orcadian waters teem with marine life and especially seals.  It is estimated that up to 30,000 seals (20,000+ grey and 8,000 common) frequent the seas in and around Orkney and so showing our visitors seals is straightforward and enjoyable.  We thought we'd try a new seal pupping special in October 2008 for the last two weeks in October, to round off our season.  The pictures below show what you should see (all taken on 28 October 2007 on South Ronaldsay).

Instead of our usual island hops (eg to Hoy or Rousay) we will hire a boat and skipper to get you around the real seal pupping centres of Orkney where you will see literally hundreds of grey seals in and out of the water.  Obviously this will be weather dependent, but should this fail we will be able to show you lots of memorable and evocative sights from the land.  Note that these weeks will not be suitable for persons who experience difficulties with heights.

There are lots of other reasons for coming to Orkney at this time of the year.  Our night skies are awesome (no light pollution) and there is always a chance of seeing the merry dancers - the northern lights.  The winter birds are arriving or passing through, which means for example, great-northern divers, slavonian grebes, scaup, whooper swans, geese, winter thrushes and snow buntings.

The two weeks selected for these grey seal pupping specials are weeks commencing:

Saturday 18 October 2008 and Saturday 25 October 2008