Seal
Callout, Rattray/Scotstown, Aberdeenshire
by Andrew Ireland
28th April 2007
On Saturday evening Andy Ireland (BDMLR Buchan Coordinator)
was contacted by Sgt. Watt of the MOD police from St. Fergus to
advise that a stranded seal had been reported by a few of the police
officers that were on patrol.
The condition of the
seal was relayed from the officers to the control room and then
on to Andy. The condition was appearing to be rather clouded by
the relaying of the information and the police officers were totally
unsure of what they were faced with (these guys are from the city
– what do you expect!)
It was agreed that we would attend and check out
the condition of the seal so a group text was sent out to the team
and a good few medics replied and were advised to attend.
On the scene Andy was met by Natalie Simmons (BDMLR
Inverness Coordinator), Angi Long, Stacey Esson and Linsey McKeown
(BDMLR Buchan Medics). We all set off along the beach looking for
the seal, which had been marked by the police officers with a carpet
that they had found on the beach. The walk to the seal was a lot
longer than we had anticipated but eventually we found it.
On arrival it was assessed and appeared to be in
good condition, it responded to our presence and was happy to move
around for us so that we could check out its entire body.
The seal appeared to be just resting and it was agreed by everyone
that we should leave the seal and have someone check on it the following
day.
On route back to the
car park at Scotstown we contacted Sgt. Watt and advised him what
had been the outcome, he was grateful for checking the seal out
and
said he would try get someone back down there the following day
to check out the seal.
On arrival at the car park we were greeted by two
of the MOD police officers. We chatted for a while, explained what
the situation was with the seal and the officers said that the two
officers that reported it were unsure if it was a seal or a dolphin!
Shocked as we were, hopefully the officers from the big city may
be a bit better informed for future reference.
The following day Sgt. Watt contacted Andy Ireland
again to advise that the seal had returned to the sea and was nowhere
to be seen on that stretch of beach.
Thanks to all involved; Sgt Watt and colleagues
(MOD Police Officers), Andy Ireland (BDMLR Buchan Coordinator),
Natalie Simmons (BDMLR Inverness Coordinator), Linsey McKeown, Angi
Long and Stacey Esson (BDMLR Buchan Medics).
Andy Ireland
BDMLR Buchan Coordinator
Sad
end for ill seal, Scotland
26th April
A
call was recieved today from members of the public (who wish to
remain anonymous) informing us of a young juvenile grey seal clearly
in distress on the mid tide line at Lunan Bay beach. The seal was
dragging itself very slowly and with great effort through the sand
heading for the surf. The seal had virtually just made it to the
surfline,and its life expired by the time Medic Thom McNeil had
arrived. The seal was a male, measuring 163cms in length and going
through its moult which had nearly reached its "peak"
point. There was no visible signs of trauma / injury / and Bob Reid
of SAC was called to see if he wanted this seal for post mortem
given that we dont know how far it has travelled to reach our area
and with the sewage pollutions in the Firth of Forth currently a
cause for concern for marinelife. SAC are extremely busy with post
mortems being carried out on a cetacean from Uist and were unable
to uplift the body. Had they not been overloaded with work, the
seal would have gone for post mortem to determine the cause of death.
Many thanks to the members of the public (you know who you are),
Medic Thom McNeil, Jason Carter (BDMLR on call), Bob Reid (SAC)
Elaine Roft - Marine Mammal Medic
Montrose / Arbroath Area Co-ordinator
Common
dolphin at Eastbourne
24th
April
[click
on images to enlarge]
Initially
Jason Carter (on-call for BDMLR) received a call on the evening
of the 23rd that a small dolphin was circling channel buoys in Sovereign
Harbour. Maz from WRAS* attended and was able to confirm the
animal was there until it went dark.
Early on Tuesday morning Maz returned
and again confirmed the small dolphin was still present.
I
and my wife Jacqui, also a Medic, dropped the kids at school and
went over to Eastbourne. Here we met up with Maz and RNLI crew Mark
Sawyer
(Coxswain) and Hayley Beddows (Crew). Mark was able to show us some
video and stills he had taken earlier which 100% confirmed the animal
as Common dolphin, and reasonably small.
We then boarded the RNLI tender
and slowly approached the animal so we could get a close look at
its condition and size.
The
dolphin was clearly not fully grown and was approx 1.5m long, probably
maternally independant but certainly in need of rejoining a social
group. As this animal was a Common dolphin, a pelagic (non coastal)
species and was a juvenile it was immediately concerning. The dolphin
was staying close to the channel buoys, perhaps in need of some
kind of contact with anything in the water. It would follow our
boat a short distance but would always turn and return to its circling
behaviour. Its swimming movements and respiratory rate were good.
I
asked Sue White at HQ to call for local medics to attend as a stranding
was possible. Medics Dave and Shelley Wheelhouse kindly picked up
the medic kit from BDMLR HQ and joined myself, Jacqui, Maz and further
medics ; Dave Rowlinson, Toni Gray, Bill Pike and Dave & Shirley
Clark on the beach close to the dolphin.
As
the tide dropped the dolphin moved away from one buoy to another
which remained in the deep channel. Its movements caused some concern
occasionally as we observed for a few hours. For very short moments
it would swim on its side and raise its head and when these movements
became more regular I decided we would take a closer look from the
RNLI launch again. The medics on shore prepared for a possible stranding.
As
the launch was being prepared the dolphin followed a couple of passing
fishing boats. It seemed to 'perk' up and swam strongly even jumping
on a couple of occasions. It would, however, always return to the
nearest buoy after the boat had passed.
We
approached very slowly in the inflatable launch and after watching
its behaviour with the other boats, decided to try and encourage
this youngster out of the harbour. Initially it followed the launch
away from one buoy to the next but then kept returning to this 'new'
buoy each time we moved away. I then started to bang my hand on
the tube of the launch and this seemed to interest the dolphin enough
to follow us on to the next buoy.
At
the last buoy in the harbour the dolphin would not follow us out
of the harbour mouth .... we must have tried 10-15 times. I started
slapping my foot in the water and, for some reason, this seemed
to do the trick. The dolphin followed the launch out to the furthest
marker buoy several hundred meters outside the harbour. Here we
decided to leave it by slowly moving away.
We
returned to the beach and the waiting team of medics and watched
for some time. The dolphin did stay out of the harbour and a watch
was mounted into the evening by Maz and BDMLR Medics. At the time
of writing this (Thursday 26th 16.00hrs) the dolphin has not been
re-sighted.
This
was always going to be a tricky situation. The animal had not stranded
but was certainly not an adult. Our options were limited ; sit and
watch the animal progressively weaken and perhaps strand or try
and get it out of the harbour so it has a slim chance of meeting
up with others of its species. A group of four Common dolphins was
sighted at Newhaven on the 20th April.
We
can only hope that 'no news is good news' and that the animal is
still alive.
Many
thanks to all those who were involved ... I'll try and list them
and my apologies if I miss someone out ;
RNLI
crew Mark and Hayley, the WRAS* and BDMLR medics who attended. Sue
in the office, the Harbour Office at Sovereign Harbour and the members
of the public who showed interest and support for our efforts.
There
are a few more images of this dolphin in the 'cetaceans' album in
the online Image Library.
Tony
Woodley - BDMLR Medic/National Media Liaison Officer
(* East Sussex Wildlife Rescue Ambulance
Service)
Tilly
runs the marathon for seal pup unit
22nd April
BBC
worker Tilly Hawkins finished in place number 10821 in a time of
7hrs 52mins 55secs in the Flora London Marathon.
Tilly kindly included BDMLR as
one of her chosen charities to support.
Thank you Tilly from all at BDMLR
!
Tony Woodley - BDMLR HQ
Seal
Pup “Chewit” at Easington
22nd
April
[click
on images to enlarge]
Neil
and I had taken the dog for a walk along the beach at about 5.30pm,
minding our own business, not seal spotting honest! We noticed what
was either a large seal shaped rock or a rock shaped seal near the
sea line. When we investigated further it turned out to be the latter
description, but I guess you knew that already or I would not be
writing this report. A fisherman nearby informed us that the seal
had been there from at least 3pm that afternoon and had not moved.
The seal “Chewit” (the choice of name will become clear
later). The seal was a grey pup, at least 1metre long and fat, clear
eyes, chilled out but alert when we went near it. It appeared fit
and health and that there was nothing we needed 
to
do at this point. The tide was coming in so we sat up on the cliff
tops watching the seal, with the thought that it would go back into
the sea shortly. As the tide came in so did “Chewit”.
We decided to leave it alone for a while and check up on it in a
couple of hours.
At
8.30pm we went back and “Chewit” was still there but
further up near the rocks/cliff. Hoping that it would go back out
into the sea at some point and it appearing still feisty and fat
we again decided to leave it alone and check again in the morning.
At
9.00am we went back and “Chewit” was still there, in
the same spot we had left it. It did not appear as alert now although
this did change when we tried to catch it. We phoned Derek at Sealife
Scarborough to discuss our concerns and we agreed that he needed
to check it out. It had been on the same part of the beach for a
long time, high tide would not be again until about 7pm, it was
now lethargic, so medic instinct took over and the fun began. “Chewit”
went from lethargic to feisty in about 3 seconds flat. It tried
to make a dash for the sea with Neil and Adam (our eldest son) in
hot pursuit towel in hand, as quick as he got the towel on the seal
it was off again. Chris (our son) managed to use the veri kennel
as a shield to block its way to the sea. This was the only thing
that was going to stop it. Eventually we managed to catch it and
put it in the kennel, at which point it went flat and gave up. Now
for the second part 
of
the fun, carrying it up the sheer cliffs. Turned out not to be as
bad as we thought, well not for me, Neil, Adam and Chris might not
agree. Jordan had the easiest job, taking photos.
“Chewit”
or as Chris now calls it “fishy fart” made some nasty
smells all the way there. Once at Sealife Derek had a look at “Chewit”
and agreed that its body condition was great but it was too lethargic,
this soon changed when he took it out of the kennel. To say it became
feisty is an understatement. Derek had began to think that there
was not much wrong with the seal, thinking that he would re-hydrate
it and we would take it back (no problems). That is until it did
the nastiest poop we ever want to experience. This changed everything,
“Chewit” has worms, so it is now staying at the Centre,
not too sure Derek is looking forward to that though. The prospect
of tubing is holding a little bit of anxiety for him. The general
consensus is that “Chewit” will be having a chew on
everyone. Good luck to them when it starts to feel better, it was
feisty enough to handle when it was unwell. Derek thinks it will
be there for only a couple of weeks as it is still in good condition
and it will not take long to get rid of the worms.
Thanks to Derek for his help and advice and good
luck, you might need it with this one.
Lisa, Neil,
Adam, Chris and Jordan Wray
Medics East Yorkshire
Sad
Ending Grey Seal ‘Rescue’, Rattray Beach, Aberdeenshire
by Angi Long
14th April 2007
After last nights seal rescue from Rattray
Beach, I couldn’t believe it when at 19:00 my neighbour Pamela
Duffell came knocking on my door telling me that there was another
seal pup approx 500yrds away from where “Nemo” was rescued
last night.
I grabbed my gear
and off we went. I called Andy Ireland (BDMLR Buchan Coordinator)
and got the team on stand-by in anticipation of what I might find.
Pamela
explained that she and her partner Kenny had watched this seal struggle
up the beach. They didn’t think it ‘looked right’;
hence she came and got me. It took us some time to get there as
it was quite a hike from the car park, especially now the anti quad
bike barriers are up. Just as we approached, Kenny, who had been
left watching the pup and marking the point for our return in the
fog, started heading towards us. “Don’t tell me you
let it swim away just as we got here?” asked Pamela. “No.
It just died” said Kenny. Our hearts sank.
I approached the pup and gave it an examination
anyway, just to check for any obvious trauma etc. The most noticeable
thing was it was extremely emaciated. Its eyes and nose were clear,
but it had froth around its mouth and its gums were incredibly pale.
Unfortunately, we can’t save them all.
In this case we never had the chance, but at least it died on the
beach in natural surroundings.
I contacted Andy again to update him on the
outcome and he contacted BDMLR On-Call, who contacted Mark Stevens
(BDMLR Director) to get a decision as to whether or not we should
uplift for a post-mortem in light of the circumstances. Andy got
back to me and advised me to leave it as per the Directors decision.
So as it was, there
was no rescue in this case, but there could have been and so thanks
must still go to all involved, Pamela & Kenny for their prompt
reporting, Andy Ireland (BDMLR Buchan Coordinator), Angi Long (BDMLR
Buchan Medic).
Angi Long
BDMLR Buchan Medic
Seal
Rescue, Rattray, Aberdeenshire
by Andrew Ireland
13th April 2007
On
Friday evening the Buchan team were preparing for a small team meeting
which was being held at the Strathbeg House, St Fergus.
At
1830, Sue White (BDMLR Head Office) contacted Andy Ireland (BDMLR
Buchan Coordinator) to advise him that a seal had been reported
to the strandings hotline. The seal in question was the one that
had been reported two days previous but when medics had gone to
investigate, they couldn’t find it. The seal had been in the
same place for three days now and the reporting member of public
was concerned for its welfare.
The
call was also passed on to Jason Carter (BDMLR on Call) as head
office was about to close for the weekend.
Andy
Ireland continued to prepare for the group meeting but the agenda
was about to change ever so slightly… Further phone calls
were made to the member of public, Lawrence Brain and Angi Long
(BDMLR Buchan Medic). The member of public was given at ETA and
also warned that we were going to have a group of Medics turn out
and that we would be running this stranding as an exercise for the
team.
Lawrence
was contacted to ensure that he had space to accommodate the seal
in a situation where it was to be uplifted.
Angi
held the group water tank and she was advised to bring it with her
to the meeting as we would be covering some seal handling. 
On
arrival at Strathbeg House, Natalie Simmons (BDMLR Inverness Coordinator)
was in attendance as was Angi. Both were sceptical about the planned
seal training session and convinced I had setup a manikin down at
the beach. When the others arrived, we headed out of the hotel and
told them that we had a call out to a seal. The moral to this story
is "always carry your grab bag" and "you never know
when you’ll get that all important call". [click
image to enlarge]
On
arrival at the parking area we were met by the reporting member
of the public. In attendance was Andy Ireland (BDMLR Buchan Coordinator),
Natalie Simmons (BDMLR Inverness Coordinator), Angi Long, Stacey
Esson, Elaine Helyer, and Linsey McKeown (BDMLR Buchan Medics),
plus our junior helpers were present to keep us right!
The
members of public led us to the scene of where the seal was and
pointed it out in the rocks. We started off the session with some
questions and answers as to what to do before a rescue and after
arrival on scene. A plan was then devised as to how we were going
to catch and assess the seals condition which required the seal
to be blocked from the sea, placed in the tank, taken to the beach
for assessment.
A
full assessment was carried out with input from all of the medics
on scene. The seal was very underweight, 45inches in length; breathing
was fine, as was its temperature. It had a bad case of diarrhoea
and was covered in weird scars/cuts which we pondered over the idea
of them being seal pox – it was later confirmed that they
were just lots of normal cuts and abrasions to the body.
Our
seal was given the name ‘Nemo’, placed in our water
tank and transported to Grampian Wildlife Trust in New Deer by Andy
Ireland and Natalie Simmons whilst the others headed back to the
pub to wait for us getting back.
On
arrival back at the pub we had our group meeting, and as always
it turned out to be an interesting evening…
On
Saturday Andy Ireland went to Grampian Wildlife Trust and our pup
was doing well and on the road to recovery that to Lawrence.
Linsey
McKeown spoke to Lawrence mid week and our seal was coming on fine
and was about to be stepped through the self feeding process.
Thanks
to all involved; Sue White (BDMLR Head Office), Andy Ireland (BDMLR
Buchan Coordinator), Jason Carter (BDMLR on Call), Lawrence Brain
(Grampian Wildlife Trust, New Deer), Linsey McKeown, Angi Long,
Stacey Esson and Elaine Helyer (BDMLR Buchan Medics), Natalie Simmons
(BDMLR Inverness Coordinator), Members of the public and our Junior
Helpers (you know who you are!)
Andy Ireland
BDMLR Buchan Coordinator
Late
season pup rescue, Cornwall
11th April 2007.
On
the morning of 11th April, Medic Lesley Jarvis took a call from
the National Seal Sanctuary regarding a grey seal pup hauled out
on the beach with an apparent flipper injury at Porthgwarra, near
Land’s End.
She
and Medic Dan Jarvis took a trip out to the site despite a call
during the journey that the pup had gone into the water. On the
scene they found a number of divers awaiting a couple of RIBs to
arrive in the cove, which we suspected was the reason the pup had
gone into the water. They were informed of the situation and agreed
to keep a lookout. Dan also talked to the local shop owner who commented
that the pup had been there for around a week hauled out early every
morning until people arrived and scared it off.
Returning
home, a plan was put in place for Coordinators Dave Jarvis and Tim
Bain to go down to the beach very early the next morning to get
to the pup before it was disturbed again. Arriving at the beach
before 7am the following morning they found the pup hauled out on
the beach and assessed it from the headland above as it had already
obviously hauled up and then back down the beach down to within
10m of the tideline. Dave improvised a herd board with his car’s
parcel shelf, whilst Tim jumped it. They were then joined by the
lady who had reported it the previous day, who was delighted that
it had now been rescued and assisted in moving the animal and equipment
back up the car park. It appeared to be a little underweight for
its age, with a large injury to the top of one foreflipper and a
very noticeable swelling on the knuckles of its second and third
digits on the other foreflipper. Aside from that it appeared healthy
and alert, so after consultation with the Sanctuary’s Animal
Care Team, it was agreed to bring the pup in for treatment. The
pup is a female and has been called ‘Coral’.
Dave Jarvis
Cornwall Area Coordinator
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
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Feisty
Seal at Holmpton, Yorkshire
11th
April 
Neil
and I received a message at 5.30pm (Wednesday 11/04/07) from Andrew
Gibson (Wildlife Warden at Spurn Point) with reports of an injured/ill
seal at Holmpton, a member of public had contacted him with concerns
about the seal. We also received a message from Alan Stewart with
the same information. So off we set, details in hand and Neil walking
a bit funny, we had just finished a 10 mile bike ride. This was
not the easiest seal to get to, it involved a bit of cliff climbing,
or falling in one our cases, not naming any names, I would hate
to embarrass Neil! There were four members of public with the seal
when we arrived, staying a good distance away from the seal as they
were concerned about stressing the seal further. They had stayed
with the seal for over 2 ½ hours concerned over its welfare.
They
were concerned because they thought it was lethargic, but it must
be something about seals and medics, they must be able sense us.
It certainly was not lethargic when we tried to examine it. Upon
examination the seal it appeared to be in good condition, fat and
feisty, clear eyes and mouth. The tide was on its way in and all
the seal wanted to do was head back into the sea. We rang Alan to
discuss the condition of the seal and he agreed with our assessment
and our decision to let the seal go back into the sea.
Once
it had gone back into the sea we sat on the cliff tops for a while
watching to ensure the seal did not come back up onto the beach.
Which it did not, I intended to go back the following day to check
if the seal had returned or not.
Thank
you to the members of public for their assistance and consideration
about the welfare of the seal. We all really appreciate the time
and effort you put into caring for the seal with extra thank you
to Darren Cooper and his son Nils Windolf for the fantastic photos
they took and emailed to us (used for this report).
I
went back to the beach the following day to check as to whether
the seal had returned, there was no sign.
Lisa and Neil
Wray
Medics East Yorkshire
Callout
to Seal pup at Crail, Fife
Thu 6th April 2007
I
was called by Faye at 6.30pm and informed about a seal on the beach
at Sauchope caravan park at Crail in the East Neuk of Fife. I attempted
to contact numerous medics in the local area, but was met with ansaphonones
and negative responses. I decided that I must attend personally
as no help was forthcoming.
I arrived at the caravan park at approx 8.00pm and spoke to the
warden 'Jim' who directed me to the seal. On arrival I could see
that the seal had become something of a celebrity as there were
a number of people surrounding it. Notably, there were a number
of children having a beach party less than 50 yards from the animal.
I managed to convince the people to withdraw so I could assess the
animal.
On first inspection, I could see that it was a fully weaned grey
pup. There were no obvious injuries, respiration was 15 bpm, no
mucus or wheezing, however, the animal was very lethargic and was
making no attempts to move away.
I was informed by 2 members of the public that it had lay in this
position for the majority of the day and had made no attempt to
leave, even at high tide. They also informed me that both children
and dogs had been annoying the animal, but even that had failed
to make the pup move off.
On closer inspection I could see that the pup had a visible neck
and also notable loose folds of skin. I decided that an uplift was
required and phoned SSPCA Middlebank to arrange a pen. I then lifted
the pup from the beach and proceeded to Middlebank.
I arrived at Middlebank at approx 10.40pm and assissted the on-call
officer with administering fluids to the pup. The pup has been given
reference number 288 and named 'Anthony'. It weighed 15.4kg on arrival.
I then returned home, arriving at 12.20am.
My Thanks to Faye (on the phone), Jim (park warden), 2 members of
the public who assisted me with carrying the pup from the beach
(sorry, I didn't get your names) and to SSPCA Middlebank for all
their help.
Allan Muir
BDMLR Tayforth Area.
London
International Dive Show, ExCeL
10th & 11th Feb 2007
We would like to say a BIG thank you to all the people that helped
on the BDMLR stand at LIDS this year. We raised a fantastic £893.46
in Donations and £820.81 from the sale of merchandise.
Thanks go to the following for their hard work throughout the show;
Jim Hayes
Mark Gregory
Joe Budd
Adam Scott
Keith Andrews
Caroline Ward
Georgina Stevens
Gavin Parsons
James Booth
Simon Duke
Faye Archell
Sue Hemp
Alan Knight
Mark Stevens
Geoff Hammock
Paul & Jenny Laird
Ian Vikery
Elaine & Rob Brown
Steve Vernon
Stephen Marsh
Sharon Gisby
Tim James
Sue White
BDMLR Head Office
Seal
Rescue at Dumpton Gap, Broadstairs, Kent
Sun 2nd April 07
I
received a second call from Tony at about 1600hrs about a seal that
had stranded earlier in the Day at Stone Bay in Broadstairs, but
had previously swam off..
I arrived at the scene at about 1625hrs and met with onlookers.
I immediately identified the seal as a juvenile Grey seal, approximately
4-6 months old. There was a wound over the left flipper/shoulder
which I estimated to be about a week old. Obvious infection and
some necrotic tissue surrounding the wound. I flushed with distilled
water and covered with intra-site gel. All other aspects of the
seal seemed to be in good order albeit a little under weight.
I decided to take the animal to Mallydams Wood for treatment and
rehabilitation. Upon arrival it was given electrolyte fluids, antibiotics
and anti-inflammatory drugs. It weighed in at 21KG.
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I
would like to thank Tony Woodley for his assistance and organisation
and to the two Medics Alex Levine & Michelle Spain who assisted
in the rescue and offered great support. I would also like to thank
Francis Gibson (A member of the public) who called in the stranding
and kept a vigil whilst the rescue took place. It is members of
the public like Francis who help aid in our operations and enable
the successful rescue attempt.
Brett Lewis
BDMLR Kent
