From September to November the females give birth to one pup, that usually is about 80 cm long and weighs around 12 kg. At birth the pups are covered in long, white hair but after 3 – 4 weeks the hair falls of and a grey coat appears. In the meantime the pups stay in the lair and drink milk from their mothers.

As soon as the pups can look after themselves, the mating season starts for the pubescent seals. The males fight with one another for the right to mate with the females. Usually the strongest male with the longest stamina and the biggest fat supply wins the battle.

From March to May the grey seals migrate from the colony to scars and reefs where they shed their hairs.

The greys seal mostly eats fish like codfish, catfish, baitfish and lumpfish. Around sandy shores, like the south coast, the main food supply is baitfish. Due to their size they are capable to get bigger prey then the harbour seal.

The grey seal does not travel much, except for the youngest seals which tend to wonder off from their birth colony. If the seals get interrupted or scared, due to hunting for example, they migrate to a more desirable location. Málmey Island in Skagafjörður and the famous Surtsey Island in the Vestmannaeyjar Islands, are now increasing grey seal colonies.

Grey seals are distributed over the tempered waters of the North Atlantic. Very large stocks are found along the east coast of Canada (130.000 animals), and around the British Isles (100.000 animals). Much smaller stocks are along the shores of Norway, Murmansk, Faroe Islands, Iceland and The Baltic Sea, or around 10.000 animals each. The grey seal is also found along the Atlantic shores of the United States of America

The Icelandic grey seal stock has reduced dramatically since 1990, from 13.000 to 6000 animals. However the grey seal stock in Húnaflói area has increased in the last few years.

Drawing: Jón Baldur Hlíðberg