The Convalescent pool resident seals have been relatively quiet this week, all have been enjoying early afternoon haul-outs in the sunshine and have generally seemed very content this week. Magnus can be heard snoring away as he blissfully sleeps on his back and Ray has been watching Magnus very closely and seems to have been copying his every move! Now that many of the rehab pups have been released, the three nursery pools have been opened back up for the residents use and, as usual, Sheba has been the first to utilise them and use them as her own personal bedroom!

This week Flotsam and Jetsam have been getting their own back on the seagulls and have been stalking the thieving birds around the pool after feeding time, bad luck seagulls! But never to miss out on an easy feed, the seagulls have simply moved next door to Flipper and Yulelogs’ pool as both seals’ appetites finally seem to be slowing down…for the time being!!!

This week has also been a quiet week with the sealions, the sun seems to have a calming effect on Rocky and Pepper. They have both appeared very content as they climb out of the pool around midday and again about 4pm to curl up and enjoy a snooze together in the sun.

Carus and Dipsy have had their pool drained and pressure washed this week. During pool cleaning, Carus likes to march around the bottom of his pool like he is on patrol (in between kipping!) and keep a close eye on Dipsy, just to make sure she is watching him perform his very important exercise!

This week, Thai and Bamboo have had some new plants and new tree stumps placed in their enclosure. As usual, this has been followed by lots of sniffing, biting and eventually destroying much to the pleasure of the sanctuary’s visitors and the despair of the animal care team!

It’s not just the otters that are good at demolition, not to be out done, this week Tuppence, Braken and Muffin all managed to trample a section of fencing around their paddock and escape overnight! The animal care team found them in the morning looking very pleased with themselves and not at all guilty looking. This meant the rest of the day was spent erecting a new, super strong fence which so far has managed to keep the ponies safely in their paddock, for now! We are sure they have been talking to the goats on their escape procedures!!

Dagger and Winter were released on the 6th of May near Port Isaac, unfortunately Breezie was not released with them as planned as she was still not quite release weight.

Tees, Clifford and Don were released very early on Tuesday of 10th May off the north coast. The release went very well and unusually the three seals all went out together and spent 20 minutes exploring their new environment side by side.

Gannel, Taw, Dee, Wiske and Lew are all doing very well in the convalescent pool and the animal care team hope to schedule the release of the three largest; Taw, Dee and Lew by the end of May. Wiske and Gannel still have some weight to put on before reaching 40kg.

Bubbles have now been taken off treatment after his jaw infection and is progressing well. He and the remaining pox seals; Breezie, Hoompah, Dinky, Smokey, Ermine and Clyde have now all been bled ready for release over the next couple of weeks.

This week we had a new arrival! Completely out of the normal pupping season a 2 day old grey seal pup was found on Trevaunance Cove, St Agnes on Sunday the 8th of May. Being a beautiful sunny day, the beach was busy with people so the sanctuary called for the assistance of British Divers Marine Mammal Medics (BDMLR) who monitored her for 6 hours and tried to keep people and dogs away. Unfortunately, the task became impossible and with no sign of the pups mother returning they had no choice but to bring her back to the sanctuary.

Once back at the sanctuary Briannock, as she is now named, was weighed (13.5kg) and checked over and given a precautionary course of antibiotics. As grey seal pups do not take to humans acting as their mother it is unlikely that Briannock would bottle feed, so she is now being tube fed a milk substitute every 4 hours. The milk is very fatty and will ensure that Brainnock will start putting on weight. She is already maintaining her weight and she is very bright and very vocal when feeding time draws close!