Iroise: grey seals of Molène and Sein dolphins

Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus), bottlenose dolphin, harbour porpoise. Mer d'Iroise, Finistère, France.

Best time: 15 Sep – 15 Dec (September to December). Where: Archipel de Molène (Réserve de biosphère), Île de Sein, Sept-Îles (Île aux Moines / Bono) (France). Time of day: Seal haul-outs are exposed for about 2 h either side of low water.

• Partly on your own
• Low cost
• Binoculars essential
• Sound 3/5

Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.

When is the best time?

Peak: 15 Sep – 15 Dec. Grey seal pupping Sept–Dec; dolphins year-round, calmest seas May–Sept

Active from 1 Jan to 31 Dec (all year) in a typical year.

Time of day

Seal haul-outs are exposed for about 2 h either side of low water; Sein's dolphins can be seen from the harbour wall at any state, best in calm early morning before boat traffic.

• Calm morning (seals tide-timed): sunrise → 3 h after sunrise

Depends on the tide: best around low tide. Check local tide tables.

What will you hear?

Seal moans and pup calls from the reef islets, a resident bottlenose pod around Sein and Molène, and the Iroise swell — France's most oceanic soundscape.

Binoculars?

Binoculars essential. Seals on closed outer reefs and dolphins off the Sein harbour wall are at distance; binoculars needed, scope from the shore.

Where to go

• Archipel de Molène (Réserve de biosphère) — France's main grey seal colony on the outer islets; boats from Le Conquet. Map
• Île de Sein — Resident bottlenose dolphins visible from the harbour wall; car-free island. Map
• Sept-Îles (Île aux Moines / Bono) — Grey seal group inside the LPO reserve; boat trips from Perros-Guirec. Map

How to go on your own, and what it costs

Île de Sein: Penn ar Bed ferry from Audierne, then the harbour wall — the resident dolphins are watched from land, free. Molène: ferry from Le Conquet; the outer seal reefs are closed, so seals are seen from the island shore at distance or from a boat. Sept-Îles: the boat cruises from Perros-Guirec pass the seal group.

Cost: Free on land; Penn ar Bed ferry fares and boat trips apply (check current prices).

Free or no-guide alternative: Sein harbour wall: the bottlenose pod comes into the harbour mouth most calm mornings — free, land-based, after the ferry.

Field-recording notes

Grey seals pup on outer reefs closed by the Parc naturel marin d'Iroise — from a boat only, at distance, with a hydrophone overboard for underwater moans. Weather windows are short; late autumn pupping means Atlantic storms. Molène is car-free and silent at night.

Sources

• Parc naturel marin d'Iroise
• Océanopolis – Observatoire des mammifères marins (Brest)

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More: all spectacles in France · dolphins · seals · whales, dolphins and seals · France in September · France in October · France in November · France in December