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Donna nook grey seal rookery14th november 2015
Donna Nook is a point on the low-lying coast of Lincolnshire, England, north of the village of North Somercotes. The area is salt marsh, and is used by a number of Royal Air Force stations in Lincolnshire for bombing practice. The site was also made available to commercial organisations such as BMARC for firing tests. Wildlife seem to have become accustomed to regular aircraft bombing. The name is popularly supposed to be that of a ship called The Donna, part of the Spanish Armada, which sank off the Nook (a small headland) in 1588.
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A 6 miles (10 km) coastal strip stretching from Saltfleet in the south, to Somercotes Haven in the north, is managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust as a nature reserve. It is part of the land owned by the Ministry of Defence and used as a bombing range. The grey seal population return to breed from October to December every year. In 2007, the seal colony had its best breeding season on record, with about 1,194 pups born to the 3,500 resident grey seal colony. A double wooden fence was erected in 2007 to stop people touching the newborn pups.
The reserve, staffed by volunteer wardens, is accessible to the public. Media coverage of Donna Nook has led to a big increase in visitor numbers; it was visited by about 43,000 people in 2006. Surplus money collected through sales is used to further support the protection of seals.
The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust has asked walkers and photographers to stay in the public viewing area and to avoid going out onto the sands, following an increase in seal mortality which coincided with an increase in visitor numbers in 2010 and criticism of the disturbance caused by photographers.