22nd January
Rescue
of 'Fraser'
3rd January, 2004
As a recent Marine
Mammal Medic, I found myself decidedly ill prepared for my first ever
call to a stranded mammal.
One of my colleagues, Glenn, from the
Amble to Tynemouth sector called to ask if I could meet him on Whitley
Bay beach, as a seal had been reported washed ashore.
I made my way there, and thanks to the
directions of a helpful member of the public, found the stricken seal
pup being looked after by the person who made the call. It was something
of a co-incidence to find out that he was my next door neighbour,
who had been jogging along the beach, and was worried about the seal
he had nearly stepped on.
Glenn arrived, and we began discussing the size and condition of our
grey seal beach visitor, before finally deciding that it looked a
bit too thin to be out.
I called two of the other MMMs, that are also members of the local
Coastal Search and Rescue team that Glenn and I belong to, and asked
them to bring along the Landrover we have to collect the seal to take
him/her to safety.
The decision was made that I was to be
the one to carry the pup, and the blanket was readied.
Now Rocky is a good trainer, and the inflatable seal pup is a good
tool to train with, but faced with my first ever live seal I must
admit to a certain amount of trepidation.
This meant that instead of the well rehearsed
on a beach in August throw and grab, it was more a throw, watch as
pup attacks blanket, grab, realise you are standing with your feet
too far apart, get help from two others to allow you to move a leg
back over the pup to pick it up. There than followed a slightly bumpy
journey in the back of a landrover, with the occasional 'it's turning
over! What do I do??' followed by 'Just don't let it bite you' (possibly
the most un-productive as it is startlingly obvious bit of advice
I have ever received)
We got our seal, now name Fraser, (after
the island) to our local Mammal B&B were it was weighed in at
13kg, (give or take a bit for whatever it managed to get from the
blanket) 90cm long, and a low temperature around the 34.5 mark. The
age was thought to be about 5-6 weeks, and during the night he brought
some seagull feathers up, showing that his diet wasn't possibly the
best. But after two nights care in Tynemouth, Fraser was transferred
a happier and warmer seal to Norfolk.
As I said at the start, I was very un
prepared for any of this, and had continually put back the 'making
a mammal medic bag' exercise since the course in August. As a result
I arrived on the beach with only a tape measure and a notebook, and
I was very glad that Glenn brought a bit more. (Especially the blanket)
Also, I expect most of you to look at the pictures of Fraser and see
him as an immediate case for rescue, but as my first live seal, and
a 5 month gap since seeing that barrel shaped one in the handbook,
I still wasn't too sure. This has prompted me to do a fair bit of
revision, and might be something worth relaying to any of your newest
medics.
Regards
Richard
Ilderton
MMM Tynemouth
[
Pics : Richard Ilderton. ]
Norfolk Grey
Seal - Update
A quick follow up to last weeks Norfolk
seal rescue featured on BDMLR news service on the 16th January. The
young male Grey pup is now on antibiotics and is responding well to
treatment, weighing in at only 12kg though it will take quite a while
before he fattens up enough to be released.
Also on the following Friday (the 16th
January) we collected another Grey pup, this time on the beach at
Brancaster. Once again the pup was suffering from lungworm and as
it later turned out also had a heavy internal parasite load in its
digestive track. The pup which was a weaned male weighing 17.5kg was
covered in bite wounds thought to have been inflicted by another seal,
although its possible they may have been the result of a dog attack
they looked rather too large. Many of these wounds had started turned
bad and the poor little guy took quite a bit of cleaning up by the
girls at Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary, he’s now on antibiotics
and pain killers.
The current theme for naming seals at
Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary is “The Lord of the Rings”
and it’s my pleasure to say the Frodo and Sam are settling in
to their new home and look as though they will both make a full recovery.
All the best
Lucie
Kirk
National Coordinator
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
The following item has been translated from French via an online translation
service ...... hope you can make sense of it ?
[ reckon 'failed' = stranded and 'hunters' = fishermen ? ]
A whale-calf failed Donges - France
17th Janury, 2004
A young whale-calf failed Friday morning
on the edge of the Loire, close of the Tower to the sheep [?] with
Donges. It was discovered by hunters and will be removed today Saturday
by the services of the squaring.
The hunters did
not hesitate only one second by discovering a small whale failed on
the edges of the Loire, on the level of the Tower to the sheep with
Donges. Believing not to be believed by telling their adventure, they
cut out a piece of aileron [?]. It is true that the event is rare:
the last time goes up in mid-May 1991. It is a methane tanker which
had brought back on its bulb, a whale of 30 tons, long 20 meters,
to the wearing of Mounting block. The crew had realized from there
that while accosting [?].
Veterinary gendarmerie and services, on
the spot, yesterday, proceeded to the first observations. Being 5,20
m long, 2,20 of circumference, with a caudal fin (tail) of 1,30 m
width, it acts of a young whale-calf of the species of the rorquals.
Notch with the head Taking into account
its wound, a broad honest notch with the head, it seems well that
the animal was touched with broad (perhaps by a propeller) and that
it was brought back in the Loire by the tide and the strong currents
in this period of storm.
As of this morning, scientists of the
Research center of the marine mammals of the Small rock will go to
the site to carry out taking away (muscles, bacons, pennons, etc)
and to take measurements of the animal.
Once the finished operation, the services
of the port authority will try to move the Cetacea, towards 1 p.m.,
to direct it on one of the holds of Donges Is before giving it to
the services of squaring. A council for the people who would like
to go to see the animal: to provide itself with boots. The access
path is muddy and very wet.
The whale-calf
of 5,20 m, wounded of a broad notch to the head failed itself on the
edge of the Loire Donges Is, opposite Paimboeuf. It will be removed
today.
( Source : www.saint-nazaire.maville.com via www.marineconnection.org
]
Ship sails to
protect dolphins from nets
21st January, 2004
Conservationsists ready to take direct
action as last resort in campaign to track fishing fleets they say
are driving sea creatures to extinction
Conservationists are to track fishing
fleets they claim are pushing dolphins and porpoises to extinction,
in an attempt to force governments to stop the killing. As a last
resort, the activists will take direct action against vessels.
Greenpeace is setting sail from London in its largest ship, the Esperanza,
along with the normally staid Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society
to intercept fishing fleets.
They are backed by the Natural History
Museum, which compiles statistics on dead whales, dolphins and porpoises
(known collectively as cetaceans) washed up on British beaches. The
museum says the casualties are rising.
In a report published yesterday, entitled
The Net Effect, the European Union, and all EU governments including
the UK, are accused of failing to act on the habitats directive which
insists that fishing fleets should be prevented from killing dolphins
and porpoises.
Last year alone, it is thought some 8,000
porpoises were killed in the North Sea and a further 10,000 cetaceans
in the English Channel, Celtic Sea and Bay of Biscay. The numbers
may include thousands more, as only a few are washed up.
Stephen Tindale, Greenpeace executive
director, said: "We are witnessing a cruel slaughter, painful
death and an unfolding environmental tragedy. At the current rates,
dolphins and porpoises will be wiped out in our seas within a generation.
"It is reprehensible that the British
government and the EU are taking so little action, despite a legal,
and even greater moral obligation to do so. Failure to protect these
beautiful large mammals is as important as failing to protect elephants
or tigers."
Richard Sabin, of the Natural History
Museum, which coordinates counting of stranded cetaceans and establishes
cause of death, said there had been a startling rise in porpoise deaths
this year already.
In the first 19 days of January, 36 harbour
porpoises were found dead on Cornish beaches - compared with 15 for
January last year across the West Country. It was too early to say
what killed them but the injuries were consistent with their getting
caught in nets.
Ali Ross, fisheries expert from the Whale
and Dolphin Conservation Society, said giant trawling nets, a kilometre
long, were being used by French, Dutch, Irish, Danish and British
fleets. Animals trapped inside suffered prolonged and traumatic deaths,
as the injuries of broken beaks and lacerations showed.
To observers aboard trawling vessels,
it was clear the death toll was high. One group on British boats counted
53 drowned dolphins in 116 hauls.
With the Irish fleet fishing for albacore
tuna in 2002, 145 dolphins had been killed in 313 hauls. One group
of 30 dolphins was caught in a single net.
The British government is currently on
its third year of trials with a net fitted with escape grids, but
no action has been taken elsewhere in Europe.
EU plans to monitor the situation were
grossly inadequate, the report said. The idea of putting "pingers"
- acoustic warning devices on nets - and fitting escape grids was
good, but needed to be pushed forward immediately.
Since no one knew whether these measures
worked, progress should be monitored and if necessary some fishing
methods should be banned, and areas closed to fishing.
Over seven weeks, the Esperanza, equipped
with underwater cameras and acoustic devices, will sail with experts
to monitor fleets in the Channel and off the West Country and Ireland.
The crew will ask ships to allow trained
observers on board so that the number of dolphins and porpoises killed
can be counted. If fishing crews refuse, Greenpeace boats will monitor
their catches from inflatable boats
Blake Lee-Harwood, Greenpeace campaigns
director, said if the crew saw that nets were likely to catch marine
animals, they would try their best to prevent it happening by non-violent
direct action.
Most marine mammals caught in nets are
discarded over the side and the majority are lost. Fishermen often
slash them with knives to make them sink. Even so, large numbers are
washed ashore.
The main species killed are harbour porpoises
and common dolphins, though bottlenose and whitesided dolphins are
also killed, as are long-finned pilot whales.
Death toll
In the last three years the number of
dolphins and porpoises reported to have washed up on British beaches
has been:
2001 99 common dolphins, 38 harbour porpoises
2002 96 common dolphins and 80 harbour
porpoises
2003 131 common dolphins (plus 120 unidentified
dolphins) and 25 harbour porpoises
2004 (to January 19) 15 common dolphins
and 36 harbour porpoises.
( source : www.guardian.co.uk )
about
2 hours circling under the pier 100m off shore in 4m of water (we
have vast expanses of flat sand here at low tide!). Every minute
or so it would break the surface with it's beak and then disappear.
As the tide picked up it went north with the flow towards Bristol,
but was not seen again.
headed
back to the Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary.
