Gelato was rescued on 18th March 2025
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The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) hotline received a telephone call on the 18th of March 2026 from a concerned member of the public about a young seal pup hauled on the rocks at Sennen Cove.
Alison, one of the BDMLR area coordinators, arranged for Alicia Wiley, Peter Perkins and Amanda Payne, volunteer marine mammal medics, to check on the seal pup. Alicia said "The pup had a nasty wound on her upper-left jaw, (suspected to be a burst abscess at the time), plus other cuts/wounds to her front and rear flippers also. Peter, Amanda and myself reported our findings back to our area coordinator (Alison), and the decision was made to do a full health assessment. Based on our findings from a thorough check of the pup, it was decided that she would be immediately uplifted to the Cornish Seal Sanctuary for urgent medical care and rehabilitation."
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© Photos Credits : Amanda Payne and Alicia Wiley - British Divers Marine Life Rescue
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Upon arrival at the Sanctuary´s hospital, the animal care specialist team arranged for their Sanctuary´s vets team to visit. After an assessment of the pup, the vet found that Gelato had sustained a broken jaw. For now, Gelato has been given a course of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories to stabilise her in preparation for an operation to fix her jaw. Gelato´s wound are being cleaned daily. When she first arrived, Gelato was given 24 hours of fluids to re-hydrate her before carefully starting to introduce her to fish.
This 4 months old female grey seal pup has been named Gelato.
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Update - 28th March 2026 : After a few days in the hospital, Gelato perked up and began eating fish whole by herself, is now incredibly bright.
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How you can help?
The Cornish Seal Sanctuary couldn´t do their work without you. Every year, we rescue seal pups in need of care from around the coastline. From wounds to entanglement to malnourishment; there are lots of reasons why seal pups might need rescuing.
Seal pups cost on average £2,000 - £3,000 to go through rehabilitation - and this doesn´t include those that require special care.
Click here to find out how to sponsor a seal pup from rehab to release. Thank you so much in advance!
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