Whirligig was rescued on 24th November 2024 British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) hotline team received a telephone call on the 24th of November 2024 from a member of the public who was concerned about a very young seal pup near the beach at Weymouth in Dorset. The area coordinator arranged for local volunteer marine mammal medics to check on the seal.   Julie, one of the medics, headed down to assess the situation and decide whether the seal needed to be taken away.   She said "As soon as I arrived, I knew the pup was in trouble as it was laid in "a banana shape" which seals do in order to get warm." "The seal appeared "nearly lifeless", and that members of the public could approach the seal closely which was also a bad sign."   He was found exhausted, malnourished and underweight with an injury to his flipper. Julie discussed the situation with the area coordinator, and a decision was made to take this 6 weeks old male grey seal pup to the BDMLR´s seal hospital in Cornwall for initial treatment and care. Photos Credit : Julie Mason - BDMLR Upon arrival at the BDMLR´s hospital, this pup was named Whirligig.   Whirligig spent 15 days at the hospital until a pen was available on the 9th of December 2024 for him at the Sanctuary´s hospital in Gweek where to continues his rehabilitation journey. Update - 14th December 2024 : Whirligig has started having his hospital pool filled so he can learn to eat his fish in the water but still needs a lot of rest before being moved to the outside nursery pools.   These photos below were taken on the 13th of December 2024. Update - 26th December 2024 : Whirligig spent a few weeks in the hospital before he was moved down to the outside pool for his next stage of rehabilitation.   This means he is on the road to recovery and also has a deeper pool to swim in. Pups in the nursery pools will be learning how to behave in the wild, interacting with other seals and also competing for their fish, which are all vital skills they will need when they are released back out into the wild. Whirligig´s flipper tag ID number is SL314 (yellow). These photos below were taken on the 26th of December 2024 in the nursery pool. Update - 4th January 2025 : This photo of Whirligig below was taken on the 5th January 2025 in the nursery pool number 2. Update - 10th February 2025 : Whirligig along with Barry Mantis, Caterpillar, Monarch, Purple and have completed their rehabilitation and reached their ideal release weight of 30kg+.   They were released back into the wild at Perranuthnoe on the 7th of February 2025. A few days before the pups were released, each pup was 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. Photos Credit : George Tyrone Deacon - BDMLR Update - 6th June 2025 : Whirligig was seen in the wild along the south coast of Devon on 17th & 18th April 2025 and 13th May 2025 and 6th June 2025. Photos Credit : Sarah Greenslade - The Seal Project By monitoring the behaviour of seals after release back into the wild, the Cornish Seal Sanctuary and other organisations 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 organisations to 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.