Seal Hospi al

Images and words by Nick Upton / naturepl.com A young grey seal pup lies washed up and Thankfully, a local café owner has spotted wheezing on a mat of seaweed at Wide- the seal on her morning walk along the mouth Bay, north , UK. Blood beach, and has raised the alarm. A response weeps from wounds on its body and flippers team is on its way, and a heart-warming tale and there’s no sign of its mother nearby. of rescue, rehabilitation and release is about Without help, it will be dead within hours. to unfold... [Left] Café owner Donna La Broy with the injured seal pup she discovered at Widemouth Bay.

[Right] Dave Jarvis fielding reports of in- jured seal pups

[Below] Michelle Cle- ment arrives at the scene.

[Below right] The pup had a bad puncture wound on her flipper.

friend – a trusty towel - as she Many grey seal pups die at sea offshore. Dave handles the calls colour, she can tell it’s about gets near. Even weakened seal or on inaccessible shores, but from home alongside his work a month old. The pup is weak pups can summon hidden the one that just washed up on as a quantity surveyor, and and extremely sick; a healthy reserves of strength and deli- Widemouth Bay is one of the alerts teams of animal medics pup would head for the sea ver nasty bites in self defence, lucky ones reported each year based closest to where pups when approached, or at least and this pup finally rears up as to British Divers Marine Life have been found. He heads out threaten with its teeth, but Michelle approaches, but she Rescue (BDMLR), a voluntary himself if they’re close to his this pup barely raises it head, soon restrains it by wrapping network with over 3,500 trai- home near St. Ives, but Wide- peering at Michelle with big, the towel over its head and ned animal medics dedicated mouth Bay is nearly two hours mournful eyes. The greenish safely pins it down by strad- to rescuing marine mammals drive away and injured seals mucus trickling from its nose dling it. Seal pups are surpri- around the UK twenty-four-se- need urgent attention. This is another bad sign, and there singly strong and regular seal ven throughout the year. From pup is a job for area co- are deep puncture wounds handlers report significant September onwards Dave Jar- ordinator and animal medic peppering its body and flip- toning of the thighs! Michelle vis, a regional co-ordinator for Michelle Clement, who reaches pers. Michelle dons a face mask inspects the teeth and gums for Cornwall, fields hundreds of the beach within 20 minutes of before inspecting more closely, signs of ulcers, bleeding and reports of seal pups in distress Dave being called. as flu viruses and other diseases damage. They seem okay, but found on beaches around the Michelle inspects the pup ca- can pass from seals to humans. the pup’s breathing is shallow county and on the Scilly Isles refully. From its size and coat She grips a seal wrangler’s best and too fast. Grey Seals Under Pressure

Grey seals are scarcer than African elephants, with a world population of around 300,000 bor- dering the north Atlantic. Some 110,000 live around the UK, breeding in late autumn and ear- ly winter on offshore islands, beaches and coves, clockwise from Devon to Norfolk. In some areas, British populations have been growing, whilst in others they’re in steep decline. Grey seal pups suckle their mother’s rich milk for their first 2-3 weeks, trebling their 12 kilogram birth weight and shedding their fluffy white baby coats, but are then abruptly abandoned when weaned, of- ten on wild rocky shorelines, to fend for them- selves and to begin catching fish. That’s a big ask for all pups, even more so for any separated from their mothers early due to human distur- bance or if their mothers die. Nearly half of all grey seal pups die in their first year, more in stormy winters, and many seals of all ages die through human pressures from che- mical pollution, oil spills, becoming tangled in nets, and boat strikes. Intense culling reduced grey seal numbers to a low point in the UK a hundred years ago, and despite legal protection in 1914 and a recovery in their population, hun- dreds are still shot under license year-round by Rachel Shorland, a new- dehydration. Its temperature needs further treatment. fish farmers and salmon fishermen in Scotland. The numbers killed illegally may be far higher. ly qualified animal medic, of 38C, taken with a rectal Between them, they roll it Grey seals declined by over 90% in the Baltic Sea joins Michelle within a few thermometer, is around a de- into what looks like an elon- in the last century due to pollution and hunting, minutes and between them gree above normal, and some gated sports bag with venti- and across their range they repeatedly come they run a series of checks of the wounds look deep; the lated panels, especially desi- under pressure from fishing interests calling to assess the pup. It’s a fe- pup definitely needs emer- gned for seal rescues. Rachel for major culls, despite the lack of any scien- male, based on the two ori- gency care. Michelle uses an hooks the handles onto a tific evidence that fices close together under antibiotic spray, and trying spring balance and braces seals reduce its tail and its eyes are drier not to get bitten, eases a si- herself to lift it as Michelle re- commercial than they should be, a sign of licon hose into its mouth cords the pup’s weight. At 27 fish stocks. and slides it down the pup’s kg, it’s lighter than it should Globally, the grey seal is throat to its stomach. Rachel be for its age and relatively then pours in fluids contai- easy to carry off the beach one of the rarest seal spe- ning electrolytes and glucose for the next phase of its care. cies. Almost 50% of the using a funnel. Rehydrating All recovered pups are given pups quickly is vital as they names by the rescue teams, world population lives in can die very suddenly wit- and this one is christened British & Irish waters. hout such help, but this pup Jenga. Grey seals are found all along the rugged coastline of north Cornwall, often in areas that are very hard for rescue teams to reach.

[Above] BDMLR me- dics Simon Dolphin & Michelle Clement are assisted by divers Mo Samuels and John Wheeler.

[Left & Right] Seal pup ‘Boggle’ is wrapped in a towel to be assessed and treated by Simon & Michelle. Every rescue is different and Grey seal mothers locate the BDMLR teams recount Not all call-outs lead to rescues tales of hazardous rope des- their pups in a crowded as some pups have mothers cents to rescue pups from the breeding colony by smell nearby who are still suckling foot of tall cliffs, or arduous and sound. As soon as the them, while others are heal- climbs up cliff paths while thy weaned pups sleeping on carrying 35kg pups. pups are born, mother & beaches between foraging trips. Rescues are often collabo- baby begin sniffing and Nevertheless, the rescue team’s rative operations involving help is often crucial. Even heal- many kinds of people. In the calling out to eachother. thy pups can get into difficul- same early October week that ties, and one that was found on Jenga washed up, a younger He called the location in to kington Haven beach. Mi- Tintagel beach surrounded by pup with a white baby coat Dave Jarvis, who recruited the chelle Clement joined them curious, barking dogs, was was found by local lifeguard help of aptly-named BDMLR there and the pup was given relocated by Michelle and Tom Comber while fishing animal medic Simon Dolphin. the same kind of emergency her colleagues to a much in a remote cove that people With the help of divers Mo treatment as Jenga. Suffering quieter beach for release, with rarely visit. He’d descended Samuels and John Wheeler, with a chest infection and a blue dye sprayed on its back to a very steep cliff path, using and their inflatable dinghy, lot of bruising from rocks, the show it had been handled by ropes in places, and found the Simon rescued the pup from pup was kept for further care, BDMLR. pup in very poor shape. the cove and ferried it to Crac- and given the name Boggle. Pups in very poor condition need immediate veterina- ry care, and Michelle soon transfers Jenga to a ventilated transport crate and drives her to a seal pup treatment facility run by BDMLR’s vo- lunteer vet Darryl Thorpe. He’s worried by the depth of some of her wounds, which he identifies as bite marks, perhaps from a bull seal see- king to mate with her mo- ther, or from another adult female the pup may have approached in error. Sur- face wounds heal quickly, but infections from deep bites down to the bone can be very hard to treat. Darryl takes a blood sample for ana- lysis, injects antibiotics for a mild respiratory infection At birth a seal pup has a and checks and swabs Jen- woolly white coat, which ga’s wounds. With Michelle’s it retains for about three help the pup is given more fluids and the team hope that weeks. she will make a full recovery.

Boggle [right] was found as more and more pups were in a less critical condition brought to him and built a and was driven direct to specially designed seal hos- the Cornish Seal Sanctuary pital with treatment cubicles at , near Falmouth, and a small pool for injured where Jenga and other seals pups. On Boggle’s arrival af- that pass through Darryl’s ter dark on a Saturday, a few care will also go to when hours after his rescue, animal they’re stable and there’s care supervisor Tamara Coo- space. The Sanctuary was per and colleague Reychell founded by Ken Jones who Harris inspect and treat him rescued his first grey seal pup with antibiotic sprays and in 1958 and looked after in- eye drops. The sanctuary’s jured seals for many years at head veterinary surgeon Paul his St.Agnes home. He mo- Riley takes blood samples ved the operation to bigger and injects antibiotics later premises at Gweek in 1975 in the evening. [Left] Dan’s hospital rounds include treating the wounds of Kerplunk who has recently had a badly damaged, infected rear flipper surgically Dan Jarvis removed by Paul Riley feeds Boggle in a novel procedure. his first fish [Right] Dan carefully washes Kerplunk’s eyes with saline solution. This helps irrigate them and prevent infections.

Dan carefully hand-feeds a macke- rel containing medicine to Uno, who has progressed to the hospital’s small pool, before leaving her swimming around in search of more.

Jenga, Boggle and many Partially blind pup One-eyed Jack other pups brought to the searches a bowl of fish Dan has left sanctuary are cared for by him, helping the pup learn how to its wonderfully dedicated locate food underwater. staff, who visit them every few hours to check on their condition, administer vet- prescribed treatments ran- ging from decongestants and dewormers, to antibiotics and rehydration fluids and to feed them. Dan Jarvis, son of BDMLR’s Dave Jarvis, is keeping his family’s seal care tradition going and has worked at the sanctuary for nearly 10 years. Days after being rescued, Boggle sheds his white coat and Dan en- courages him to accept fish Dan leaves a fish for Boggle, who for the first time, with many has now shed his white baby coat complaints at first, but with and has learned to feed for himself. rapidly growing compliance. [Clockwise from left] Stacey Pryor cuts up and weighs line- caught mackerel; Medicinal pills are inserted into fish about to be fed to a patient; Seals requiring medicated fish are hand-fed to ensure they re- ceive their treatment.

New arrivals keep the care staff busy throughout the seal pup rescue season. Trea- ting the pups as necessary, staff keep them well-fed, and endlessly prepare more fish for them. Mackerel are the staple diet, always caught locally by seal-friendly line fishing, rather than by than netting which often leads to seals being caught by mis- take. Individual portions are carefully weighed for some patients, and various Jenny Lewis feeds a medicated pills and powders concealed fish to common seal ‘Buddy’ in inside the fish to ensure the his outdoor enclosure. pups take their medicine. Once off the critical list, Jen- Given plenty of fish ga, Boggle and other recove- and treatment for ring pups are moved to ou- their wounds, seal tdoor nursery pools, where pups have amazing fish are thrown from a plat- powers of recovery, Seal pups in the form above by the care team even with deep wounds outdoor nursery so the pups won’t associate from ropes, jagged rocks, pools are closely people with food. or adult seal and dog bites. monitored by care staff to ensure that they continue [Left] In most years seve- feeding well in the ral pups are brought in se- water - an essen- verely entangled in various tial skill if they kinds of netting from the are to survive in fishing and transport in- the wild. dustries, usually with deep injuries to the neck. One pup, Iron man, arrived entangled with rope cuts right down to his spine, while Joker and Beast had similar injuries nearly as bad, but all made remar- kable progress at the sanc- tuary. A few of the rescued pups brought The Cornish Seal Sanctuary is also home to the sanctuary have problems to common seals (half as common as grey that can’t be cured, such as Ray seals in UK waters) as well as sealions from [left], a happy, cheeky charac- zoos that no longer have space for them, ter who was rescued as a pup in short-clawed otters from a facility with no 2001 with a deformed head and outdoor space, and a conservation bree- brain damage, possibly inflicted ding colony of rare Humboldt penguins. in stormy conditions. He loves a good rub down with a broom, enjoys chasing gulls and stealing the water hose off the Animal Care team. He’s so popular with staff and visitors that he has his own Facebook page!

Even seals that become blind as adults have a good chance of survival in the wild, thanks to their acute sense of smell and highly sensitive whiskers, which can detect pressure waves in the water.

MEET THE RESIDENTS

Whilst the aim of the seal Sheba has remained vir- Snoopy is an old female, Marlin was rescued as a Badger is a rare all- Yulelog was rescued in 1989, kept in a marine park for sanctuary is to rehabilitate tually blind since she who spent over 20 years pup wrapped in netting black seal with thyroid 4 years until it closed and had to be rescued after lo- and release seals, those who was rescued as a pup in living in zoos before co- in 2002 and is comple- problems that mean he sing weight rapidly on being released, and showing no the 1970’s with bad eye ming to the sanctuary in tely blind, but he remains would starve if released idea how to feed himself. He overeats if given a chance, would not survive on their own infections. Now over 40 2004. She likes to keep lively and aware of what back into the wild. Ray splashing the staff to demand more fish, but has slim- remain at the Sanctuary as years old, her playful, so- herself to herself at one goes on around him. He likes to lead him astray, med to a respectable 300 kgs, and is really enthusiastic permanent guests. ciable nature makes her a end of the communal can sometimes be a bit of teaching Badger some of and energetic when playing with toys like a ball, rub- much-loved seal. pool. a bully to the pups! his tricks. ber ring or surfboard. When they’re strong enough, the recovering pups join others in a communal conva- lescence pool, alongside long-term resident adults with handicaps too severe to allow release back to the wild. The seals are hand-fed with fish containing medi- cine several times a day or compete to catch mackerel thrown over the fence, ma- king a great spectacle for the sanctuary’s many visitors to enjoy as the seals race around the pool. The income from visitors is crucial to funding seal rescue work.

Seals show individual per- sonalities in the ways they interact with each other, how playful they are, and how they react to being trained (with whistles and a target stick) to lie down and allow health checks to be performed and minor ailments treated. In the convalescence pool, seal pups learn to compete for food, and prac- tise the social skills they will need to survive in the wild. Although grey seal pups do not typically interact with each other in the first few months of their lives, both wild and cap- tive seals grow up to become extremely social. From around six months onwards, they engage in play with other pups - chasing, rolling and splashing around in the water - as well as greeting one another, and adult seals, nose-to-nose. Despite around fifty pups -ar Did you Know? The scien- riving at the sanctuary with severe injuries and illness tific name for the grey each year, nearly all recover Seal, Halichoerus grypus, fully, pile on the pounds and translates from the Latin become fit for release. On a few red-letter days every as ‘hook-nosed Sea-pig’! year, their pool is drained, The seals peer from the trailer and a cage placed carefully over puppies heading out for a each one and a group loaded walk, they climb over each raise their heads to sniff deeply as onto a trailer to be driven to other to peer from the trailer they approach the sea local beaches on the coast and raise their heads to sniff that they were recovered deeply as they approach the from. Like a pack of excited sea. Release days attract several vest shuffle down the onlookers to watch the event, beach and enter and off-duty sanctuary staff the waves; often come along as well as others hold Dave Jarvis, his wife Lesley back nervous- and his young granddaugh- ly at first, but ter who’s already showing an soon join the rest interest in seals. The pups in their natural element, edge out slowly at first, then swimming strongly out to more quickly as the bra- sea to fish for themselves. Sue Sayer and Kate Hockley Seal-watching boat trips can be booked in of the Cornwall Seal Group many places in summertime. Responsible watch grey seals from a cliff operators know not to visit breeding sites top. in autumn and winter. Seals at haul-out spots can become used to approaching boats and even seem curious, swimming out to stare back at people. But avoid loca- tions where too many boats pressure and disturb the seals.

Volunteer researchers recording cetaceans and seals off the Cornish coast, while Sue Sayer takes reference photos from the back of the boat.

The story doesn’t end there Records from Sue’s network of Grey seal coat patterns are so distinc- though. Each released pup has observers show that Cornish tive that using her phenomenal recall, a numbered flipper tag and a seals regularly travel long dis- Sue can immediately recognise hun- unique coat pattern, allowing tances between resting, moul- dreds by sight. a dedicated team of seal resear- ting and breeding sites, often chers to follow their fate. Sue reaching Devon, Wales and Sayer has run the Cornwall France. Seal Group Research Trust for Sue’s records challenge the over 10 years, with a network of common notion that seals live volunteers across the southwest in well-defined static “colonies”, and beyond sending her reports but instead visit different loca- and photographs of seals. Sue tions to rest between foraging regularly monitors grey seals trips, a bit like service stations herself, viewing and photogra- on seal motorways. Foraging phing them from clifftops and trips can last for days, with seals boats, always from a distance sometimes travelling 40km or that won’t disturb the seals. more out to sea. Sue’s photographic catalogues contain images of thousands of seals, all given names that help describe their coat pat- terns, such as Clouds and Ar- row U. Sue manually matches new photos of each seal to her existing records. Whilst tag numbers sometimes wear off after a couple of years, seal coat patterns never change, and the 1300 plus sightings of tag- ged seals Sue has on file from England, Wales, Holland and France show that rehabilita- ted pups fare well after release, even those rescued with severe injuries. Beast was found as a four month old pup, en- [Left] Sue Sayer tangled in netting which had cut deeply into holds up a his neck. He was rescued in January 2015 by members of the BDMLR team, and rehabilita- 9m section of [Below] Iron fishing net and Man recove- ted at The Cornish Seal Sanctuary. Following a photo of Iron red from his his release in March 2015, Beast has been Man, who was injuries at the spotted and photographed more than 10 times, found entangled Cornish Seal at various spots along the north Cornish coast. in it. Sanctuary and Whilst his scarred neck is still obvious, it has was released in healed well. March 2015.

Another longer-term success story has just been revealed thanks to photographs taken by two of Sue’s diligent recorders, Alec and Enid Farr, at their local site on in sou- thwest Cornwall. They photo- graphed a seal there they knew as Brush, who gave birth to her own pup in October 2015. When they noticed that Brush had a flipper tag, Sue’s photo- graphic files revealed that she herself had rescued Brush as a white pup seven years earlier on the north coast near St.Ives. Rescues, and Sue’s tracking stu- dies, really do work! Jenga, Boggle, Beast and many other pups owe their lives to the commitment and skills of a host of people, but the grey seal, one of the rarest of all seals, still needs a Getting Involved lot more help and vigilance to survive the many increasing pressures it faces around the crowded British Isles and across its full Atlantic range. Grey seals can be seen at a number of sites around 1 the UK, but care should be taken not to disturb them, especially when breeding. Resting seals need to relax after long fishing trips to digest their food, and human disturbance can cause a breeding group to stampede to the sea, with young pups of- ten getting crushed by adults in the panic.

2 Injured, sick or unresponsive seal pups should be reported to BDMLR http://www.bdmlr.org.uk on their hotline 01825 765546, or RSPCA / SSPCA call centres, local coastguards or RNLI lifeguards, or local seal rescue facilities such as the Cornish Seal Sanctuary https://www.visitsealife.com/ gweek/ , Orkney Seal Rescue, Sea Life Centres in Oban, Scarborough or Hunstanton, or The Welsh Mountain Zoo.

3 Help clean up beaches and the sea. Lost fishing equipment or “ghost gear” and other marine litter (old nets, ropes and plastics) can entangle or poison seals and other wildlife.

4 Send sighting reports and photos - even very dis- tant ones - of grey seals taken in the southwest, to Sue Sayer so she can extend her photographic records and track seal movements: [email protected]

5 Support seal care organisations with visits, dona- tions or by adopting captive or wild seals, and sup- port seal-friendly fisheries that have “no-shoot” policies.

6 Train as an animal medic with BDMLR who run public courses throughout the year. Contact: [email protected]

+44 (0)117 911 4675