Beast was rescued on 16th January 2015
Beast, a four months old male grey seal pup, was rescued from the beach at Porthgwidden in St Ives on the 16th of January 2015 at 6.30am in the morning by Tim Bain and Dave & Lesley Jarvis, British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) marine mammal medic volunteers.

Tim had spotted the seal the night before on Bamaluz beach (St Ives) hauled out, he was pleased that the seal was on Porthgwidden beach, this time Tim with the help of Dave and Lesley managed to capture it.

The pup was entangled in the net which had cut in quite deeply and showing signs of infection around the neck.
© Photos Credit - Sue Sayer - Seal Research Trust
Beast - photo by Sue SayerBeast - photo by Sue Sayer
Update - 23rd January 2015 : Beast now weighs 27.5kg, he is currently in the hospital and having a swim every day and is looking great.   He is eating fish for himself.   In the next few days this pup will hopefully be moved down in the outside nursery pools for his next stage of rehabilitation.   Nearly forgot to mention, Beast is quite feisty and very vocal.

Beast´s flipper tag number is 075 (yellow).
Update - 17th March 2015 : Beast was released back into the wild along with Spongebobby, Hong Kong Phooey and Iron Man on the 12th of March 2015.
Seal Release - 12th March 2015
Click here to read Sue Sayer of the Seal Research Trust´s press release, who will monitor this seal´s progress back on the wild.

Video of the seal release by BBC Spotlight South West Country TV.
Update - 5th March 2026 : Beast has been spotted at haul-outs along the coast of Cornwall by volunteers of the Seal Research Trust on 28th March 2015 (he was with two other rescued seals Daffy and Wonder Woman), 29th June 2015, 16th & 27th July 2015, 19th, 24th & 28th September 2015, 8th, 22nd & 26th October 2015, 16th November 2015, 11th February 2016, 15th & 18th April 2016,

Photo credit : Sue Sayer - Seal Research Trust - 28th March 2015.
Beast - photo by Sue Sayer of the Cornish Seal Group
28th September 2017, 9th, 13th & 20th November 2017, 14th & 28th December 2017, 1st, 4th & 22nd January 2018, 8th, 15th, 19th & 26th March 2018, 9th April 2018, 10th May 2018, 6th September 2018, 9th, 11th, 17th, 18th & 30th October 2018, 12th November 2018, 17th & 24th December 2018,

Photo credit : Sue Sayer - Seal Research Trust - 28th December 2017
Beast - photo by Sue Sayer of the Cornish Seal Group
2nd, 3rd, 10th & 17th January 2019, 4th, 7th, 14th, 18th & 26th February 2019, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 11th, 18th, 25th & 30th March 2019, 5th & 7th April 2019, 26th September 2019 and 24th & 31st October 2019, 2nd, 5th, 9th, 16th & 30th December 2019, 6th, 9th, 10th, 23rd, 24th, 27th & 30th January 2020, 3rd & 6th February 2020, 8th, 13th, 19th, 23rd & 26th March 2020, 28th September 2020, 9th & 29th October 2020, 5th, 16th & 26th November 2020,

Photo credit : Sue Sayer - Seal Research Trust - 26th February 2019
Beast - photo by Sue Sayer of the Cornish Seal Group
1st, 7th, 14th, 17th, 19th & 31st December 2020, 11th, 25th & 27th January 2021, 1st, 17th & 21st February 2021, 5th & 25th March 2021, 15th & 17th November 2021, 2nd, 7th & 23rd December 2021, 7th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 23rd & 31st January 2022, 3rd February 2022, 3rd, 13th, 19th & 27th January 2023, 7th December 2023, 22nd February 2024, 10th & 21st March 2024, 28th & 30th October 2024, 9th, 16th & 17th December 2024, 2nd, 9th & 31st January 2025, 17th & 24th February 2025, 1st, 9th, 10th & 17th March 2025, 4th April 2025, 10th & 16th November 2025, 7th & 29th December 2025, 1st & 15th January 2026, 4th, 16th & 19th February 2026 amd 5th March 2026.
By monitoring the behaviour of seals after release back into the wild, the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, Seal Research Trust and other organisations can use this information to define the best practice standards and policies that they can share with the international rescue community.

Each seal´s fur pattern is unique and enables the organisations to track them for life.   Seals face many challenges, yet we all depend on them to balance our marine ecosystem, which is essential to make the oxygen we breathe.   Seals are our globally rare wildlife tourist attraction, helping diversify coastal economic prosperity.


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