This week one of our last pups Gannel was moved from the convalescent pool to the round pool with Bubbles. It is hoped that as they are at the same stage of their rehabilitation, they will be released together in the next couple of weeks. They have also been joined by a new arrival, April a little pup who has come to us from the RSPCA West Hatch to learn how to feed herself and interact with other seals.

This means that there are now no pups in the convalescent pool. Leaving our nine resident seals in peace and quiet for the summer. It also means the Animal Care Team are now able to go into the pool and feed which all of the residents seem to be enjoying immensely. The residents had a surprise this week when to celebrate the 30 anniversary of the Sanctuary being at Gweek, Ken Jones, our founder, came out of retirement to give an one-off talk and feed in the convalescents pool.

Anneka is still receiving antibiotics and pain relief for a poorly eye, unfortunately the Animal Care Team are not having much luck with this treatment at the moment as she has put her self on a diet and will not regularly eat the fish containing the medication.

Sheba is also suffering from a poorly eye again and has been put back onto medication to relieve her symptoms.

Flotsam and Jetsam seem to have become a little fed-up with their training, in a bid to regain their enthusiasm, the Animal Care Team have given them a week off from training and both are now thoroughly enjoying having their fish thrown around the pool.

Flipper and Yulelogs have been enjoying the early morning sunshine in the first half of this week and could still be found, Flipper in his cave and Logs on the side all fluffy and dry until as late as 10:30am. Unfortunately the later half of the week the weather has put a stop to these late morning lie-ins.

Rocky and Pepper enjoyed an unusual treat this week. With the arrival of the sanctuary’s new exhibit the touch pool frozen squid has been brought in to feed all the critters and any extra squid has been a very welcome addition to Rocky and Pepper's feed times.

Carus seems to be returning to his big bullying self this week and has been regularly pushing Dipsy in the pool after feed times and pushing his luck with the Animal Care Team.

This week, Thai and Bamboo have had some new ferns planted in their enclosure and to the Animal Care Team surprise they have not pulled any of them up yet.

The goats have been enjoying some cabbage treats, Monty and Priscilla in particular seem to really love this type of extra food.

The ponies have been having a really nice time this week with all the visitors giving them lots of attention over the fence although Muffin still seem to find this a bit alarming as she can’t really see people coming due to her cataracts.

Last Friday (26th May) saw the successful release of Smokey, Ermine and Clyde up at Port Gaverne, all three of them went straight into the sea and seemed very happy to be back where they belong.

Briannock is now almost 3 weeks old and has been introduced to fish after being on a milk substitute since her arrival. She is now incredibly wriggly and getting stronger by the day as she steadily puts on weight. Unfortunately due to her small size, she has been having trouble maintaining her body temperature so she has been started on a heat lamp and glucose in her fish to combat this problem.

Last Friday, Wey went into the vets for an x-ray of her rear left flipper and a dental operation. Unfortunately it wasn’t good news the x-ray showed an infected fracture on one of her toes on her rear left flipper which will have to be amputated at a later date. The dental operation was a success but due to the poor condition of her teeth, she is now missing seven of the teeth on her upper jaw. However, she has made a very speedy recovery and started eating fish again just a few hours after her operation. The Animal Care Team will now have to monitor her progress closely.