A photographer has captured hilarious grey seals that look like they’re laughing, waving, and even face-palming in despair.
Brian Matthews, a wildlife and conservation photographer, travelled to the Farne Islands in Northumberland at the start of pup season this week.
The islands are home to thousands of the animals, and every autumn hundreds of pups are born there.
The seals are ‘capital breeders’ meaning they don’t need to eat during their time at the colony, instead surviving off the blubber they’ve built up.
Brian said: “Thousands of seals come to the island to give birth and breed over the winter – the first of over a thousand seals were born this week.
“Braving the chilly North Sea, I have been visiting the Farne Islands for 30 years and have seen grey seal numbers increase significantly.
“It’s great news as they recover from hunting.”
As well as some cute snaps of the babies, Brian managed to get a full range of the amazing facial expressions from the adult seals.
One shows a seal with a paw raised to its face, just like in a classic face-palm.
Another shows a seal laying on its side with a paw raised in the air like a little wave.
Other images show the colony rolling around and covering themselves in dirt to amuse themselves during their time staying at the colony.
Brian also captured underwater images and videos of the seals, playing with divers around the islands.
The female adults stay for around 20 days before heading back out to eat, while the males stay for about 50 days to defend their territory.
The pups are weaned within 18 days and then left by their mother to fend for themselves, heading out to sea around 20 days later.
For more cute animals check out this chunky cat going viral on instagram
