British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) hotline received a telephone call on the 2nd of January 2025 from a member of the public who was concerned about a young seal on the beach at Carbis Bay. The area coordinator arranged for local volunteer marine mammal medics to check on the seal.
When Chris, a member of the BDMLR volunteer medics, arrived the beach was busy with inquisitive members of the public wanting to take photographs and ask him questions. After a while, he managed to cordon the area off and started a visual assessment, but could see no visual wounds. He contacted the local area coordinator, Dan, to arrange for another medic to assist.
Chris said "After Andrea, another marine medic, arrived, they carried out a full assessment, the temperature of the pup was 35.7°C. They found that both front flippers were quite weak and did not have much of a handhold, more so with the right flipper, due to it being swollen, plus there was a small puncture wound. There was also a small injury to the upper left of mouth. The pup weighed in at 16.4kg." After further discussions with Dan, a decision was made to uplift and Andrea took the pup up to the BDMLR´s seal hospital for initial treatment and care.
Chris would like to thank the Carbis Bay Estates Staff who looked after the pup before he arrived.
Update - 8th January 2025 : After Leaf Cutter spent four days at the BDMLR seal hospital, she was transferred to the sanctuary´s hospital at Gweek on the 7th of January 2025.
After examination by the sanctuary´s vets, they confirmed the suspicion of potential osteomyelitis in her front right flipper with a persistent puncture wound that was not healing. The vets put her on a course of treatment but said to come back to them if the swelling was not going down.
Update - 10th January 2025 : These photos of Leaf Cutter below were taken on 9th of January 2024 in the hospital. She currently weighs 15.7kg. She will spend a few weeks in the hospital before being moved to the outside nursery pools to continue her rehabilitation.
Update - 28th January 2025 : The Cornish Seal Sanctuary has launched an urgent fundraising appeal asking its supporters to help "Leaf Cutter".
Leaf Cutter needs a lifesaving front flipper operation which will test the Sanctuary vet´s precision surgery skills. The operation is Leaf Cutter´s only chance of survival as she would sadly be unable to swim without a fully functioning front flipper.
Tamara Cooper said "We have everything crossed for little Leaf Cutter. She needs an intricate operation on her front flipper that will see our vets try to only remove the affected bone. It´s certainly not a routine operation and will put our brilliant vets through their paces. We are confident for a positive outcome and hope to see Leaf Cutter on the road to recovery very soon."
The vets put her on a course of treatment but said to come back to them if the swelling was not going down.
Unfortunately, this was the case, and the Sanctuary therefore booked in for her to get an X-Ray. This X-Ray showed that she has a fractured metacarpal. After some further discussion with the vets, the Sanctuary decided to proceed with an operation to give her the best chance of survival.
Click here to read the full press release.
Update - 31st January 2025 : Thank you to the wonderful supporters who kindly donated to Leaf Cutter´s operation and raised over £1,000. She had her operation yesterday at the vets which went well. This morning Leaf Cutter was nice and bright - fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
Update - 5th March 2025 : Leaf Cutter has been doing so well in her rehabilitation since the operation! While in the hospital, she enjoyed some ice enrichment, but now she´s taken the next big step, and started the second stage of her recovery!
Leaf Cutter has joined Hairy Henry, a fellow rescued pup, in the outside nursery pools. Together they´re learning essential survival skills, including how to compete for food, an important step in preparing for life in the wild! The Animal Care Team are so proud of her progress and cannot wait to see her continue to thrive!
Update - 15th March 2025 : These photos below of Leaf Cutter were taken in the rehabilitation pool on the 13th of March 2025.
Her flipper tag ID number is SL319 (yellow).
This photo below of Leaf Cutter were taken in the rehabilitation pool just before she was released back into the wild on 31st March 2025.
Update - 31st March 2025 : Leaf Cutter along with Dung Beetle,Luis Woodlouse, Michael and Roach Bug have completed their rehabilitation and reached their ideal release weight of 30kg+. They were released back into the wild on the 31st of March 2025.
On the day of their release, Leaf Cutter, Dung Beetle, Michael and Roach Bug, were fitted with specialist GPS tracking equipment. This innovative step will provide valuable insights into the pups´ movements and behaviours as they return to the sea. The study, which is first of its kind in Southwest England, is part of the GPS tracking equipment for 15 grey seal pups of the 2024/25 rescue season being issued with the tags to examine their at-sea behaviour. The Cornish Seal Sanctuary is working alongside Dr Luis Huckstadt, senior lecturer at the University of Exeter as he leads this exciting pilot study.
Click here to see a selection of these and further photos of their release.
