Rare black seal photographed on Winterton-on-Sea beach

Emma Allard spotted the animal at Winterton beach earlier this week and photographed it with her 600mm camera lens.

The black seal, or melanistic seal, was seen among the Marram grass. 

Seals are typically born white and shed their fur two or three weeks after birth, exposing their grey undercoat. 

A unique type of seal was snapped with a long lens in Norfolk (Image: Emma Allard)

But some have an excess of melanin in their fur, a type of pigmentation which creates the black colour. Around one in 400 can have these markings.

​READ MORE: Hundreds of seals take over Norfolk beach amid pupping season

Ms Allard said of the sighting: "It was a very chilly walk to the dunes but well worth braving the cold.

The melanistic seal was seen at Winterton (Image: Emma Allard)

"I'm not sure how old the seal pup is but it looked well-fed and healthy.

"A lot of the seals appear to have now dispersed so I feel lucky to have spotted this little one."

More than 4,500 seals were expected to be born along the nearby Blakeney coast this year, up from only 25 in 2001.

The seal-pupping season usually runs from October to January.