Sanctuary team to the rescue
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The Sanctuary team went out on a rescue mission at Loe Bar beach after a call from BAM Nuttall workers who had come across a pup that needed help.
Shaun Weir from BAM Nuttall, a construction and engineering company, made the call to the Sanctuary after discovering a Grey seal pup on 27th April 2018 struggling to get up on the beach. Shaun is leading a project on Loe Bar beach on behalf of the Environment Agency which involves fitting a large pipe from the lake to the sea as part of a flood prevention plan.
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Grace Jones and Ashley Weekes from the Sanctuary animal care team made their way to Loe Bar to come to the aid of the pup. The BAM Nuttall team drove them down to the Pup in a buggy as they were anxious to get to the pup quickly.
Grace Jones said "The pup looked exhausted, which isn´t a surprise looking at the rough surf she would have had to swim through, it was around 10ft!"
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The team gave the pup, who has been named Bella, a quick assessment and found she had a few superficial wounds, a high temperature and was missing a few claws on her front flippers. She also only weighed 16kg so the decision was made to bring her back to the Sanctuary.
It has been a record year at the Sanctuary for rehabilitating pups, which has been mainly been put down to the exceptional weather conditions. The Sanctuary have begun releasing the pups that are fully recovered and ready to be released back into the wild, but still have many pups in their care recovering.
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Tamara Cooper, Sanctuary Curator said "It´s not unusual to get a few pups after the main rescue season, most years the Sanctuary see between 1 and 3 pups rescued between April to May. These tend to be larger, older pups of around 4-6 months old."
"These are amongst some of the heroes of the pup season - they have battled through the rough seas and high winds and against the odds have survived but just at the last hurdle have needed a little help."
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"Bella is one of those pups. She was found very weak and little heavier than a new born seal pup at around 4-5 months old. Her front flippers were sore and had become infected around two loose claws - thought to be from scrambling up on the rocks during the rough weather."
"After being looked over by local vet Paul Riley, Bella has been put on medical treatment to help her recover and to fight any infections."
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With the help of the BAM Nuttall workers, the team were able to successfully rescue Bella and are hopeful for her future; she is a long way off release but is making slow progress every day.
Shaun Weir, BAM Nuttall worker said "I brief my team every morning on what to expect during work, and also to be very conscious of the local wildlife that we may encounter. I haven't ever assisted in a Seal rescue before but I am so pleased to have been able to help".
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Press Release issued by the Cornish Seal Sanctuary
For more details, please contact Georgina Shannon on 01326 221361
Issue Date: 30th April 2018
Click here to see more photos of the seal rescue.
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