Every year seals would crowd ashore in Farne Island and give birth to their pups. Between early October and early December, 1,500 seal pups will be born. Almost half of them will not make it past the first three weeks of life. "The pups have to stay out of the water for the first three weeks, when they have their white coat, which is not very waterproof," explains the warden  ,who spends nine months on the Island. "But when you're born in November on a rock in the North Sea, it's a tough start to life," he said. Storms often wash young pups into the water. And occasionally, young, inexperienced mothers abandon their pups and head out to sea. "We lost 41% last year," said David Steel, the National Trust's head warden on the Farne Islands. "Mother Nature certainly keeps them in check." Despite the early challenges for every newborn seal, the population is healthily and slowly and steadily growing. There are almost 4,000 seals on a set of islands, which is named a Special Area of Conservation(SAC), meaning it is protected under EU regulations. This successful human safeguarding of the seals' habitat is huge turnaround . Just a few decades ago, the seal population was deliberately _ The animals used to be thought of as a threat to local fish stocks. During the late 1960s and 1970s, thousands of seals were shot in a cull that aimed to protect the local fishing industry. According to the National Trust, between 1962 and 1983 approximately 2,000 adult females and 3,000 pups were shot. But, as the fishing industry collapsed, it was gradually replaced by tourism. Today, several companies use fishing boats to take groups of people to visit the islands and admire the scenery, seabirds and, of course, the seals that make their homes in this bleakly beautiful place. According to David Steel, death of so many pups  _  .
is a normal and natural phenomenon is mainly caused by farmers' killing can be prevented efficiently by man will be controlled by Mother Nature