A grey seal pup and its mother lay on the beach near the Donna Nook reserve, where thousands of visitors come to see the wildlife spectacle every year. Seal numbers have continued to increase, with over 1,600 pups born at the reserve this year. Large bull seals are the first to arrive, in late October or early November, and they will wait for females. The cows arrive later and are herded into harems by the bulls, where they give birth to a single pup which is covered in white fur.

Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images