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| Cornish Seal Sanctuary
| | Issue 237
| September 2024
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Maggot, the first rescued seal pup of 2024/25 season, arrived on the 3rd of August 2024, has now graduated from the hospital and is now in the outside pools down on-site for her next stage of rehabilitation. She is doing really well practicing her swimming.
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Say hello to Mary. She was 4 weeks old female grey pup when rescued on the 2nd of September 2024 from Mother Ivy´s Bay by some members of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) volunteer marine mammal medics. She was found lethargic and dehydrated with a high temperature. The beach was very busy and she was too small to look after herself.
As you can see Mary is feeling much better now in the outside nursery pool number 4. She spent about 2 weeks in the Sanctuary´s hospital being looked after by the wonderful experts animal care team. These photos below were taken on the 16th of September 2024.
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JP, a male grey seal pup, was rescued on the 13th of September 2024 from Pine Haven by the BDMLR. He was around 10 days old when he got separated from his mum and was found with infected bite wounds on his back and flippers.
His wounds are cleaned twice a day and he is receiving medication in his fish to help with the infection. He is now doing much better and even learnt to eat his own fish without any help from the team! Once he has put on some more weight, he can continue his rehab in the outside nursery pools.
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Sun Beetle, a 4-5 weeks old female grey seal pup, was rescued on the 17th of September 2024 from Trebarwith Strand by the BDMLR. She was found malnourished with some deep wounds to her back along with a snotty nose.
She is learning how to eat for herself and enjoying her swims. Once Sun Beetle´s wounds are healed and have put on some more weight, she will be ready to move down to the outside nursery pools.
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The Oldest Seal in the World celebrates her 50th!
| Sheba, celebrated her 50th birthday on the 21st of September, reaching an age beyond what seals in the wild typically get to and possibly making her the oldest seal in captivity in the world.
Sheba had a rough start...She was brought to the Cornish Seal Sanctuary in 1974 after being rescued from a beach with a head injury and an eye infection. She mostly recovered though because she partially lost her vision. She could not be released back into the wild. But she´s now outlived other animals that have come and gone from the Sanctuary and staff there says she´s become something of a favourite for the long time visitors.
A lot of people who are regulars at the Seal Sanctuary continued to watch her grow. So it´s definitely something that a lot of people feel quite connected to Sheba reaching this age because they have visited throughout the years, they have seen her grow and change and be with different seals and behave in different ways and find new things that she likes to do.
Seals usually survive 25 to 30 years in the wild. Sheba´s longevity is thanks to the care that she has received over the years and advances in veterinary medicine. Sheba celebrated her birthday with a triple layer ice and fish cake yummy.
Click here to read Sheba´s press release.
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Happy 35th Birthday to the handsome Yulelogs!
He spent the day sunbathing poolside and enjoying his fishy ice cake on the 10th of September 2024!
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A huge thank you to everyone who joined the Cornish Seal Sanctuary on Wednesday 18th of September 2024 to take part in the #GlobalBeachClean
Grace, the Sanctuary´s Wildlife Conservation Coordinator, said "We had a fantastic morning cleaning the beach at beautiful Maenporth in Falmouth. Together we collected over 11kg of general waste and 5kg of recycling from the beach and surrounding paths. Go team!"
Grace continues "A Special Thank You to our clean-up partner @waterhaul_co for bringing their "clean up" kits and enthusiasm, and the lovely @seasaltcornwall volunteers for joining us on our mission".
Each year the SEA LIFE TRUST organise a 24 hour Global Beach Clean, encouraging ocean lovers from across the globe to take part in a collective effort to tidy up our beaches and water ways. We can´t wait to see how much we all collected this year.
You can read more on the SEA LIFE Trust´s website - https://bit.ly/4evET26
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We hope you enjoy the selection of photos taken in September 2024, click here or on the photo of your choice below to see a larger version.
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A HUGE thank you to everyone who took part in the Cornish Seal Sanctuary´s "Fund Our Future" 2024 Online Charity Auction, we are delighted to tell you that the Sanctuary raised an amazing £3,349 towards the new on-site seal pools!
The Seal Sanctuary also want to say a Big Thank You to all the companies and individuals that donated the fantastic auction items, the team couldn´t have done it without you, Thank You so much for your support.
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NAWT and Seal Sanctuary Join Forces to Highlight Dangerous Dog Toys!
| The National Animal Welfare Trust (NAWT) has joined forces with The Sea Life Trust - Cornish Seal Sanctuary, to encourage animal-loving dog owners to watch out for seals when visiting the beach with their pooch.
The charity recently caught up with their friends at the Sanctuary, who warned about the dangers of ring-style frisbees, and the harm they can cause to wildlife. They also provided NAWT dog re-homers with information and advice on what to do if you ever come across a seal pup whilst out on a walk. Dog toys aren´t fun for all "pups".
Read More.
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| Click here to find out what to do if you find a Seal Pup or a Seal?
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We went to check on several seal colonies in Cornwall in September - enjoy admiring these photos. Click here to see a selection of photos.
These photos were taken with Nikon Coolpix P1000 camera which contains a 3000mm zoom lens!
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Each released seal pup is given a flipper tag with an unique ID number. This helps the Cornish Seal Sanctuary and the Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust (CSGRT) to track and monitor where pups end up and how they are doing once they are back in the wild.
This month the following seals were spotted in the wild by members of the CSGRT from around the coast of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly:-
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Orion on 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 19th and 21st September 2024
Goonies on 3rd September 2024
Snowdrop on 3rd and 9th September 2024
Poppadom on 5th, 19th and 24th September 2024
Nemo (photo below) on 7th September 2024
Prudie on 14th and 19th September 2024
Mayonnaise on 20th and 27th September 2024
Sacha Baron Cohen on 30th September 2024
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| Photo Credit - Andy Rogers - CSGRT - 7th September 2024
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The information regarding tagged seals seen in the wild is copyright of the CSGRT.
By monitoring the behaviour of seals after release back into the wild, the Cornish Seal Sanctuary and the CSGRT 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 CSGRT volunteers 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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This news update has been put together by volunteers/supporters of the Cornish Seal Sanctuary.
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