The photograph offers a remarkable glimpse of the marine mammals in their natural environment.
Martin Shaw, who posted the image in the Daily Echo’s Camera Club group on Facebook, noticed the seals all laying out together on the shore on Wednesday evening, September 9.
He said: “There were three harbour seals and a larger grey seal sharing a quiet haul-out at the water’s edge. All looking very chilled and making me feel like I interrupted nap time.”
Martin Shaw (Image: Martin Shaw)
“They all looked up at me and I managed to get the photograph, they stayed up out of water for ten to 15 minutes.
“I have never seem them that close before and it is very unusual seeing all the seals together.”
The 46 year-old noticed them just before sunset and said: “The weather was working against me a bit, it had been quite a sunny evening but just before I saw the seals it clouded over.
“It was getting quite dark which made it difficult to get the photos but luckily they stayed quite still for me.
Although he works in IT by day, Martin discovered a love for photography during the Covid lockdowns.
Puffling spotted in Dorset for the first time in 30 years (Image: Martin Shaw)
His focus is now largely on wildlife, capturing nature across Dorset.
He said: “I’m still very amateur. I mainly do wildlife photography, I just like getting outdoors.”
“My proudest moment was photographing a puffling, in July, that was spotted in Dorset for the first time in 30 years.”
The Dorset Camera Club invites photographers of all abilities to share their photos of wildlife and landscapes across the county and the New Forest.
The group, which is run by the Daily Echo and its sister paper the Dorset Echo in Weymouth, formed in February 2017 and has amassed more than 7,500 members.
Since then, thousands of photos have been submitted to the group, capturing Dorset and the New Forest across all seasons.
To join the group, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/echocameraclubdorset