Common Seals

Meet Babyface, Buddy and Bo our resident Common Seals at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary. They are fun and friendly creatures and love to target feed with the animal care team. What is particularly special about our Common Seals is that they are family! Babyface is the father to Bo and Buddy, and is also thought to be the oldest common seal in captivity at 44 years old!

Did you know?

• Common seals spend 85 % of their day under the water, which includes resting on the sea floor

• Female Common Seals give birth to a single pup during June or July

• Pups shed their white coat whilst still inside the uterus, so they are born with their adult coat

• Common seals will swim into estuaries and large streams in pursuit of prey

• The average heart rate of an adult seal is between 55 and 120 beats per minute. When underwater, the heart rate is slowed to between 5 and 15 beats which enables them to dive for up to half an hour