Suddenly a week has gone by since the 2nd harbour pup was born and 10 days since the first. They have changed a lot in that time and there's been a bit of drama too! We have just passed new moon which means big spring tides. With it being close to the autumn equinox they are the biggest of the year (over 7m at high tide for a few days). Despite it being calm the pups are forced to swim for a few hours twice a day at each high tide. For animals under a week old this uses up a lot of energy and is a common cause of mortality when pups and cows can become separated.

A few days ago it looked like this had happened to one of our harbour pups. We went down to meet the boat in the morning and there was no sign of the older pup. It's mother was agitated and trying to 'hijack' the younger pup. However once the tide dropped the cow appeared more settled and was lying around quite content which seemed odd as they usually roam around looking for the lost pup for a day or two.

Sure enough the next morning both pups were on the beach again! We soon worked out that the 'missing' pup had simply been hiding itself away at the back of the harbour cave. I've not been in there for a few years so its possible the back of the cave has cut back further and created a mini beach which stays dry even on the highest tides. I'll have a look once pupping is over (with a hard hat on!)

7 day old harbour pup '2' - it has a distinctive black snout which helps ID it

As a reminder this is how it looked just a week ago on the day it was born

No photo of pup '1' as it has been tucked away in it's cave all day! The cow has been going in and out to feed it though and it is quite vocal so sounds in good spirits