Another
Small Pup Rescued - Cornwall
27th November 2007
Area
Co-ordinator Dave Jarvis together with wife & medic Lesley Jarvis
had just arrived in Truro at 14.15, when he received a telephone
call from the National Seal Sanctuary at Gweek to request assistance.
A report had been received that an apparently malnourished seal
pup had been seen on an isolated beach near Perranuthnoe, near Marazion.
Dave immediately contacted son Dan who was not far from home in
West Cornwall & asked him to attend, whilst the former battled
his way through the rush hour ( yes there is one ) traffic. Dave
also advised National Co-ordinator Trevor Weeks at Head Office &
due to the failing light asked him to locate other personnel to
attend. Trevor soon advised that he had contacted medic Colin Pringle,
who lived nearby. It was not long before Dan & Colin rendezvoused
with the original caller, Richard Devonshire, in the local pub car
park.
Richard
led Dan and Colin in their cars down a farm track, where they then
proceeded on foot through a field and out onto the coast path. From
there they then headed East along the path and down a drop-off onto
the rocky beach. After yet more walking the pup was located near
an old crate used by Richard to mark the place it was first spotted.
By now it was almost completely dark, so Dan and Colin had to assess
the pup by torchlight as it gradually crawled away further up the
beach. Immediately it was obvious the pup was severely malnourished,
with very obvious hipbones showing through the loose rolls of skin.
On closer inspection the pup’s temperature was found to be
normal, although some minor bite wounds and swellings were also
apparent. After consulting with Animal Care Assistant Claire Baker
at the Sanctuary, it was agreed that the pup needed rehabilitation,
so it was duly picked up and carried in a relay by Dan and Colin
all the way back to the cars, where it was then slowly driven back
to the pub to meet Dave, Lesley and a transportation cage. After
the pup was loaded up, Richard and Colin were thanked for their
efforts and assistance before the little male seal was taken away.
He was later found to weigh just 11.5kg but remains quite bright
and active and should do well.
Dave Jarvis
Director and Cornwall Area Coordinator
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
Call
for seal at Easington beach, Co.Durham
25th November
On
Sunday 25th November a M.O.P. rang the RSPCA because she was worried
about a seal laying on the beach and not reacting much to the surrounding
people/dogs. Alan put a call out and Joel and I went to have a look.
After a long walk we found a young common LYING on a sand dune,
looking quite well, good weight, slight injury outside the mouth.
The pup did not look too bothered while we observed him from a distance,
but soon tried to shoot towards the water as we prepared the towels.
We had a good look at him and he felt unusually warm in the body
area and back flippers. We took the pup to the vet at Swanbrige.
Temp was 38.5 and he was given hydration liquid and antibiotic.
He was very feisty and challenging! Alan 
met
us there with his chidlren and a few more... they called the pup
WILDCAT! and so it stayed. Wildcat developed a higher temperature
in the morning initially but after further antibiotics stabilised,
and he was deemed fit for release on Wednesday.
Ian
(Medic) picked up the pup and released him at Spurn Point after
work. The pup ran as fast as possible to the sea. Well done Ian
and thanks again.
Thanks
to everybody who helped (the vets and nurses at Swanbridge, Ian,
Alan) and also thanks to those who offered to help (Dianne and Neil).
Freddie and
Joel (Humber Region Medics).
Common
Seal – Bo’ ness
Sunday 25th November
Received
a call from Jason Carter at 9.45am to say that a seal had been reported
at Bo’ ness quite a way inland along the Firth of Forth. The
SSPCA were in attendance and described the seal as being an adult,
approximately 4ft long and in reasonable condition. After trying
to rouse some medics (not an easy task on a Sunday morning –
thank you Liz for getting up to come!) we set off and arrived at
the Bo’ ness boat club where the seal was reported to be and
met SSPCA Inspector Carolyn Fraser. The seal was located just above
the high tide mark on a grass bank situated on a busy dog-walking
path and where local youths frequently visit with their mini-motorbikes
etc! On approach the seal was not at all bothered by our presence
although was definitely aware of us. With the exception of a slight
unilateral serous the seal appeared in good body condition, with
a normal respiratory rate and pattern and no signs of trauma. In
the left hind flipper was a blue tag with a phone number on and
number 5 on the reverse side. After ringing the number we discovered
it was that of the SeaLife centre network (actual centre TBA). From
the size of the seal we estimated it to be one of last year’s
pups but the National Seal Sanctuary informed us that the last time
they used blue tags was five years ago so will look into the identity
of the seal! As it was on the left flipper they could confirm that
it was a male.
With
the exception of being in an awkward position there did not appear
to be any justifiable reason to uplift the seal to take to Middlebank
and so after discussing the condition of the seal and options with
Jamie Dyer, he recommended that it was best to leave well alone
and to monitor (the National Seal Centre had suggested relocating
to a quieter area of beach). By this point we had also been joined
by Paul Shave, local resident and Secretary of the Boat Club, who
had originally called the seal in. Although high tide was not for
another three hours as we continued to watch and the tide level
began to rise the seal decided that he had had quite enough of us
all disturbing his Sunday morning and started slowly making his
way back to the sea. We continued to watch until we were unable
to see him anymore, as he appeared to be heading back out towards
the bridges and open sea. As we left the SSPCA were just heading
off to find another grey seal pup reported to be somewhere along
the forth coastline – should I wait for the next call from
them?!
Thanks
to medic Liz Leuchte, SSPCA Inspector Carolyn Fraser and Paul Shave,
Secretary for the boat club who offered to keep an eye out for the
seal to return during the day (and for offering us the use of his
mud horse should we ever need it for any mud rescues!)
Sally Hessey
– BDMLR Medic
Seal
pup rescue – Caithness
25th November
A seal pup had been reported
by the residence of a small community of Dunbeath.
Paula Gent, the local co-ordinator, asked me to take a look because
I lived nearest.
I observed the seal on Saturday 24th and could see nothing wrong,
although it's breathing was a little fast.
I returned on the Sunday
25th and I could see that it was having trouble in what was just
minor surf and it was making no attempt to move up the beach.
I contacted the local co-ordinators and after their consultation
with Jamie Dyer it was decided to get a BDMLR qualified medic to
look at the seal.
When Jim and Steve arrived their training was evident. Just looking
at the seal pup Jim said, “You’re right something is
wrong seals don’t sleep on their stomach and it's breathing
is a lot quicker than it should be".
Then Jim pointed out a swelling
on the seals right shoulder and the flipper bent under the body,
this explained everything.
After a phone call it was
decided to get the pup to a vet for further checks.
The
vet said it’s a haematoma and gave antibiotics and expects
when the swelling goes down it should be able to use the flipper
and be released, following rehab.
Colin Bird
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A
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
24th November 2007
At
08.30 Jason Carter, who was in charge of the ‘out of hours’
emergency telephone, contacted the Jarvis household. A report had
been received of a seal pup on the beach in front of the Carbis
Bay Hotel, in St Ives Bay. Contact was immediately made with the
National Seal Sanctuary at Gweek & it was decided they wished
to attend, but that since the location was popular with early morning
dog walkers, medics would get there as soon as possible to secure
the area. As Area Co-ordinator Dave Jarvis was already in the process
of loading his car with display posters & equipment, because
BDMLR were supporting Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Strandings
Forum in Truro, medics Lesley & Dan Jarvis immediately set out
for the scene.
Arriving
on site, the pup was quickly located just above the high tide mark
near some beach huts. It appeared relatively thin with a couple
of visible bite wounds on its rear flippers and some oedema in the
left eye. Animal Care Assistant Clare McGowan arrived from the Sanctuary
a short while later with volunteer Matt Coliacomo (also both medics).
She gave the animal a thorough assessment and took its temperature,
which was normal, but decided due to the eye problem to take the
pup for rehabilitation. The pup, a male, was then loaded into the
waiting cage and carried off the beach.
Dave Jarvis
Director and Cornwall Area Coordinator
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
Seal
pup from Dunbar
23rd November 2007
Call from Sue (HO) at 4.30pm
re a grey seal pup reported on the beach at Tyninghame (just along
from Dunbar). Countryside ranger Bobby Anderson was with the pup
and had reported it as being a moulted grey pup in good body condition
but with noisy breathing and a mucus and bloody nasal discharge
so the decision was made to uplift the pup and transport it to SSPCA
Middlebank. MMM Kate Duthie and myself headed out towards Dunbar
but en route were phoned to say that Bobby had now picked up the
seal (it had put up little fight) and had put it in his van and
would meet us in Haddington. Upon arrival at Haddington we met Bobby
on the side of the road (not the most ideal of locations but never
mind!) where I discovered that he had the seal in the back of his
van in a rather large sack! Before transferring to the vari kennel
I carried out a quick clinical exam of the seal, which revealed
the following. The pup was a moulted grey in good body condition
with good fat coverage and no major bony prominences. The pup was
dyspnoeic and the respiratory rate was elevated at approximately
35bpm with a continuous breathing pattern. Breathing was noisy and
auscultation revealed significant adventitious lung sounds particularly
of the left caudal lung lobe. Due to the noise of the traffic it
was very hard to determine an accurate heart rate but it did appear
rapid (not surprising considering the circumstances though!) A copious
mucopurulent nasal discharge was present which was blood tinged
and the pup was sneezing intermittently. Crusting around the nose
and mouth was present from the nasal discharge and there was a slight
serous ocular discharge bilaterally. The eyes were slightly sunken
suggesting it was slightly dehydrated. On initial examination there
appeared to be no external signs of trauma. Initially the pup was
quite dull and depressed but gradually began to respond more as
I examined it and was beginning to respond more to the activity
around it.
After a quick assessment we moved the pup into the kennel and then
took it up to Middlebank. Upon arrival the pup (which we had aptly
named Haddington by this stage!) was very lethargic and depressed
and hardly responded to being moved out of the kennel and into the
last remaining seal pen! He was also weighed in at 20.29kg. Middlebank
said they would give it a feed later when it had chance to settle
in.
Thank you to medic Kate Duthie,
Elaine Tait who initially called the pup in, Bobby Anderson for
monitoring and uplifting the pup until we got there and Colin at
SSPCA Middlebank for all their help.
Sally
Hessey - BDMLR Medic
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Seal
pup rescue – Fraisthorpe, Yorkshire
Sunday 11th Nov 2007
The call was from Alex (on call)
via HQ at 12:20pm
A seal was reported on Fraisthorpe beach, which is south of Bridlington
about half an hour away.
I called Pip to see if he could go along to help and suggested he
called Damon (he's not a medic but is keen to be one, and could
go to observe).
I called round by Filey and picked them up and we set off to investigate,
once there we pulled into the car park right on the cliff top and
could not believe how many people were there, wind surfers and body
boarders and those strange things with a small kite on a long line
to pull you over the surf, anyway moving on.
We got wrapped up against the very
cold wind and the heavy showers and went to ask people if they had
seen anything, the call had come from a MOP to the coastguard and
then onto Alex, the only thing we had to go on was that it was south
of Fraisthorpe heading towards Barmston.
Hands up if you know how far that is? and don't ask Pip because
the answer WILL contain several swear words in no particular order.
Pip took the top of the beach and
I took the waters edge while Damo (as we call him, well among other
things anyway) took the middle, we told him what to look for, marks
in the sand from hauling out a crowd of people or dogs investigating
an area on the beach or failing that A SEAL.
We had walked about a mile and seen nothing when Pip said it would
be best if I went back and took the car to Barmston and then walked
back towards them, because at this rate we may find our seal and
be miles away from the car.
There was no way to get the car
down onto the beach and even if we had it was too soft and too rocky
to be driven along.
The
tide was coming in, high water was at 4:30pm and there was a lot
of run on as well, so the beach was shrinking quite fast, as I left
the car park I met the coastguard coming down to check on the surfers
so I flagged them down and explained who we were and that there
were two other people on the beach walking towards Barmston looking
for the reported seal, and asked them to check if there were anymore
details from the original report that we had not been given.
Sadly
there was no more to tell and we were no better off, They said the
tide would come up even more with the weather conditions like they
were and that we should make sure we got off the beach in plenty
of time so as not to get trapped as there were small coves and points
where the water can cut you off. I drove around to Barmston and
went in through the caravan park at the cliff top to try and get
as close as possible to where Pip and Damo were walking, after a
bit of off roading and going across a field that had recently been
sprayed slurry (lovely) I got within about 800 yards, at which point
Pip rang me to say they had found the seal (this was about 2 miles
from our start point).
The obs were done, it was a common
pup, a male, BPM were 8, it was under weight and had a lot of small
wounds all over from being knocked around over the last few days
by the heavy seas, it was approx. 650 to 700mm long and laying on
it's belly, it did respond to us being around but made no effort
to get away.
We decided to lift it and made contact
with Bev, she said to call round by her house and she would have
a cage ready and would contact Linzi at Scarborough Sealife centre
to see if they would take it in, we stopped half way back to check
on our pup and all was ok.
We
got to Bevs and did the transfer into a travel cage and headed for
Sealife.
Arrived at Sealife at 4:15pm and Linzi was waiting for us with her
team and we took him straight into the hospital to get him cleaned
up. Linzi's team temped him (38.8) and weighed him (15.1kg) they
took a blood sample and the glucose was 9.3, he was given injections
and all his wounds were cleaned and treated he got a hose down and
was left to rest.
Linzi told us we could take some towels to replace the ones used
and let us get cleaned up.
We contacted Linzi a couple of days
later and the pup is doing very well.
Can I just say a big thank you to all involved, Alex, Coastguard,
Sealife and of course Bev for her support and last but never least
Pip, and our newbie Damon well done mate on your first call out.
Bruce Pawson
Filey MMM
Jersey
seal pup rescue
Thursday 15/16th November
9am
- Alan Gicquel sees ‘Alan’ the seal sunning himself
on a rock, at La Rocque Harbour, Robin Bay, at high tide. He had
just emerged out of the water alone. Nothing appeared wrong and
he seemed to be enjoying snoozing whilst warming himself thought
probably waiting for his mother to appear with a feed soon. He texted
me (his daughter) to share the amusement of what he was watching,
seeing as I was at the other end of the island. At about 11am, I
was passing to find my dad still at La Rocque, he was getting some
beautiful shots of ‘Alan’, still expecting him to disappear
at any time. We hung around from a distance hoping to see Alan rejoined
by his mother, but by now the tide had gone way out.
By now a few of us from my family were hanging around from a distance
to keep an eye for his well being, with dog walkers etc.
I
had identified him as an unweaned grey pup approx 2 weeks old according
to my wonderful marine mammal medic manual. He was also spending
most of his time on his back or side, so a good sign I am led to
believe.
At
dark a few went home for some tea whilst the tide was still way
out.
I returned with a friend and a torch at 10pm (high tide) hoping
to see ‘Alan’ had gone!!! He was still in the same position
high on the rock. No sign of a female seal.
At
daybreak (Friday 16th November) my dad (Alan) returned on the rising
tide again, also hoping he would have made his way out with his
mother. Also Jonathon Hudson (A JSPCA ambulance driver) came down
before he had to be at work for 8am. Still no sign of a female.
He
had now made more of an attempt to be laying on his belly, not good
I do believe.
I arrived about 9am, the rock completely surrounded, with the sea
about 2ft away from ‘Alan’. He was making an attempt
to climb higher. I started the calls to the other medics, the JSPCA
to put them on standby for a possible rescue later in the day. The
BDMLR hotline were great, so much thanks to Sue and Jamie.
Jez
Payne and Alan Jarret (fellow marine medics) were able to join me
later in the morning and with lots of phone calls a plan was put
in action, for a vet (John Hamilton) to confirm our identification
that we were indeed dealing with a possibly abandoned unweaned grey
pup.
As the tide resided from the rock a hammock was superbly enabled
by Jez and all were briefed on the plan. Once the JSPCA ambulance
arrived, Alan was retrieved from the rock, where he was taken straight
to the JSPCA for some much needed lectade fluids via a stomach tube,
temperature reading, sexing, weight and general check over. Performed
by Hugh Forshaw (vet) Tizanne Gallichan and myself. All MMM's.
In
the meantime the wonderful Sue was having ‘Alan’ booked
onto Condor ferries for a trip to Guernsey GSPCA for further care.
We departed from Jersey at 6.00pm and ‘Alan’ was taken
into the great care of Geoff and Yvonne at the GSPCA.
After staying nearly a week he was then taken up to the RSPCA East
Winch Sanctuary (Norfolk) where he is now.
Many thanks to Condor Ferries.
Good Luck to ‘Alan’.
Donna de Gruchy – BDMLR Marine Mammal Medic
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Seal
pup relay – East Linton to SSPCA Middlebank
(pup from Farne Islands)
15th November 07
Call from Sue (BDMLR HQ) at 3.55pm
asking if I could do a seal relay for a seal that had been picked
up from Bamburgh Beach to SSPCA Middlebank.
After picking up medic Marja Kipperman
(who had only done her Medic course a few weeks ago and this was
her first call – well done Marja!) and speaking to Graeme
Shaw (Newcastle assistant co-ordinator who was with the pup) we
arranged to meet at Hound Wood to transfer the seal so that I could
take it up to Middlebank. However due to heavy rush hour traffic
out of Edinburgh, Graeme had reached Hound Wood before we had hardly
managed to leave the city so he agreed to carry on up to East Linton
and we would meet him at Tornross garages there. Upon arrival at
East Linton we found a garage by that name but decided it looked
so deserted we couldn’t possibly be in the right place so
carried on a bit further whereupon we found another garage with
the same name! Amazingly the timing of our arrival was nearly perfect
with Graeme arriving just after us at 6.30pm.
The pup itself was in very good
body condition, had purple spray on its rear identifying it as being
from the Farne Islands and was certainly ready to put up a fight!
Closer examination revealed that “Maximus” (so called
due to its rather large size!) had a copious mucopurulent discharge,
very noisy breathing and was sneezing intermittently. However it
was bright, alert and responsive and there were no external signs
of trauma. It still had its white coat and was estimated to be approximately
3 weeks old. Once the pup and kennel were safely inside my car (he
put up a good fight - not helped by the zip on the seal bag breaking
as the seal went into the bag!) we were soon on our way to Middlebank.
Half way to Middlebank we had a
quick stop to check on the pup and tell Middlebank when we would
be arriving. Apart from the laboured breathing the pup appeared
to still be bright and alert so it was decided to carry straight
onto Middlebank and not go via The RDVC Small animal Hospital, Edinburgh
to tube feed the pup, as had originally been an option. We arrived
at Middlebank at approximately 8.30 pm where the pup was then moved
into one of the pens and left for an hour to recover from his ordeal
(Maximus obviously wasn’t too bothered by all the excitement
though as when we arrived at Middlebank he was sound asleep in his
kennel!)before being given a feed of Lectade later.
Before we left we had a look round
all of the other seal pup residents and also helped to tube feed
some of them their late night feed!
Sally
Hessey – BDMLR Marine Mammal Medic
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A
stormy and busy start - a week in Caithness
7th-14th November
We
had been waiting a few weeks for our first call out of the grey
pupping season, as last year we got our first call in late September.
It turned out to be like waiting for a bus, none some along for
ages then they all come along at once.
Wednesday
the 7th Paula received News of a pup on the slip at Scrabster
Harbour. It was lifted and taken to seal Towers (Richards place
where the seals are kept and cared for until they can be transported
south). It was called Dipsy and transported south to Middlebank
the following day.
Thursday the 8th was a day of very stormy weather,
and a call came in about a seal pup on Thurso beach. Paula and Richard
attended and found a young white coat grey seal pup. The pup was
lifted straight away as swell of the sea was very large and Thurso
beach is a busy beach, so there was next to no chance of the pup’s
mother coming onto the beach to care for it. It was a male pup and
he was called Elmo, who was taken to seal Towers.
Friday
the 9th saw call outs to Farr beach, Bettyhill and close
by Torisdale beach. Both of these were concerning a white coat pup.
Richard and Jim went west to attend and found no pups at either
site, however they did find tracks leading back to the sea at Torisdale.
The caller had said they would keep an eye out to see if the pups
returned.
Whilst the guys were west another call came in about another seal
on Thurso beach.
Colin went down to have a look and found an exhausted Common, one
of this years pup. As the pup was not in bad condition it was left
and monitored. The pup was not seen again after dark.
There was another call to Skarfskerry in the evening where the pup
was left to be monitored, as it was a fresh wash-up in a quiet spot.
Saturday
the 10th saw no let up. First Paula attended another white
coat in good condition at Thurso East in the morning. Another call
came in around midday concerning another seal at Thurso East. Jim
attended and found a moulted grey pup. It was by no means fat but
in good enough condition to be left and monitored. However as he
was there the caller arrived and informed that the pup he had looked
at was not the pup he had called about. The pup he had called about
was just a bit further along.
This was another moulted grey pup, which had a lot of gunk around
its nose and a few wounds on its back. Jim contacted Richard who
attended with myself, as I had been at his. The pup had gone into
a pool by the time we got there, so it was a wetter lift than normal.
The pup was taken to the local vets for a check up, where we were
advised to hang onto it, as its chest was sounding a bit crackly.
Again we had another boy, who was named Fred and he was taken to
Seal Towers.
We also received a call form the gentleman at Skarfskerry to say
the healthy white coat there had gone from there sometime on Saturday
afternoon, and hopefully it was off fishing.
Sunday the 11th A day of rest with one pup to be
checked again at harrow however feeding still at Seal Towers.
Monday
the 12th went today to do a few follow up checks on seal
pups we had received phone calls about over the weekend. One was
a white coat Grey seal pup at Harrow Harbour. Richard Bradley had
already been out to look at this pup at the weekend, but as it was
at an area popular with seals, it had been put under observation
in the hope Mum was nearby. Sadly there was no sign of any adults
in the vicinity, never mind attending to the pup. Then a closer
look at the pup revealed an underweight pup with prominent hips
and neck. Richard Bradley came out to assist after dealing with
the transfer of 2 other pups south. The decision was taken to lift
the pup, who is a little boy called Gizmo and only weighed 9Kg.
Gizmo is now in the care of Richard Bradley, until it is transferred
south.
Tuesday
the 13th Calls came in thick and fast to pups in fact to
many to mention Jim and Richard where out in the North East looking
at a fat white coat when they spotted an almost moulted Grey pup
tucked behind a rock weighing only 12kg Hector was picked up for
transport to Seal Towers, they hadn’t had a chance to get
the sand off their boots when the next call came in and it was back
to Harrow harbour to find yet another white coat, Iggle Piggle was
well and truly dried out and quiet inactive at 16kg with no mother
in sight and no signs of her having been to him for a while. By
11pm all three pups were tucked up in bed after a goodnight supper
at Seal Towers.
Wednesday
the 14th With all the pups in good enough condition to
travel they were transport to Inverness to meet Andy from the SSPCA
who transported them to their final destination of Middlebank.
Wonder what we have on for next week
Report and
photos by Karen Munro
Marine Mammal Medic Caithness Area.
24
Hours is a Long Time in Cornwall
Wednesday
7th November
10.30
– Cornwall Area Co-ordinator Tim Bain received a ‘running
call’ from one of his contacts in St Ives to advise that a
young seal had been seen on the beach at the back of the Lifeboat
Station. He immediately contacted Dave Jarvis to ask him to bring
equipment, in case it was necessary to rescue the animal. Whilst
en-route Dave also advised the National Seal Sanctuary & BDMLR
Head Office of the situation. Upon arrival at the beach Tim soon
spotted the animal not far from a young family who were observing
it. It was immediately obvious that the pup, although fully moulted,
was extremely small & inactive. It was also noticed that it
was jet black all over, with no obvious markings. There were no
signs of any injuries, but its temperature was found to be about
35.6 degrees. Having liased with the Sanctuary it was decided that
the animal should be uplifted & transported in to them. Soon
afterwards Dave arrived at the scene & Tim was assisted in placing
the animal firstly into a seal bag, before transferring it into
the seal cage. The pup was soon at the Sanctuary, where its temperature
had risen by about 1 degree & was found to be 11.5kgs, but also
to everyone’s surprise to be female. Having cleaned all of
the equipment Dave & Tim returned to their respective homes
at about 14.30.
16.00
– Following the morning’s activities, Tim decided to
go for a walk along the coast path. When he arrived at a place known
locally as Foxholes, from the clifftop he observed a young seal
hauled out on the beach & apparently in a less that optimal
condition. Tim again contacted both Dave Jarvis & the National
Seal Sanctuary to appraise them of what he was observing. Unfortunately
due to the tide conditions & failing light, it was impossible
to access the beach safely that evening. It was therefore decided
that Tim would go out & check the beach in the following morning.
18.30
– The bi-monthly Cornwall Seal Group was being held in Camborne
& not only were subjects such as the Hayle Wave Hub, anaesthesia
in seals & the plethora of pups that had been born locally discussed,
but also the recent rescues that had been carried out by both the
Seal Sanctuary & BDMLR. Unfortunately, during the course of
the meeting, it was also reported that a major rockfall had occurred
at a cove earlier that day, the obvious aftermath of which was at
least two dead adults, but also that the newest pup, called Missie,
& her mother, who had been in the immediate vicinity, were missing.
By the time the meeting closed at 23.30 (an early finish), plans
had been formulated to deal with both situations.
Thursday
8th November
8.30 – Tim made his way around the coast path & after
initially finding the pup in a slightly different location, but
‘slumped’ over a rock with seabirds around it, re-contacted
both the Sanctuary & Dave Jarvis to advise that he considered
that it would be necessary to have it rehabilitated. Gweek agreed
to make their way over to collect the pup, whilst Dave transported
rescue equipment in the Born Free Foundation Landrover, which is
currently on loan to BDMLR. Having observed the pup for a short
while, Tim noticed that it was attempting to struggle back down
to the water’s edge, so he summoned assistance from two members
of the public, Helen & Adey, who were in the area. Tim &
Adey clambered down onto the beach, as the pup was now accessible
due to it being low water & caught the animal before it could
escape. At about this time Dave arrived in the nearest car park,
accompanied by medics Lesley & Dan Jarvis (the latter being
on the Animal Care Team at Gweek now rescuing seals in his spare
time as well). Dan went on ahead & down to assist Tim &
Adey in bringing the pup back up onto the coast path, where it was
placed into the seal bag & then carried back towards the town.
By a happy coincidence, Animal Care Assistant & medic Clare
Baker, accompanied by medic Rachael Vine, who deals with Press &
Publicity at the Sanctuary, arrived in the car park at just the
right moment to be able to prepare to receive the pup for an initial
clinical assessment & tube feeding. It was found to have swollen
rear flippers, both having open & pus filled wounds & injuries
to the nail beds of the front flippers. Surprisingly the temperature
was relatively normal. The pup was soon on its way to Gweek for
treatment. It was then time to catch up with developments at the
other end of St Ives Bay.
9.00
– Sue Sayer, who is both a medic & founder of the Cornwall
Seal Group arrived at the rockfall site & along with medics
Simon Bone, Kate Hockley met Sue & Trevor Waterhouse, who had
begun observations to assess the situation. The two dead seals were
lying on the beach with about 20 others who were still in the land
of the living. The mother of the pup was seen lying alone under
the cliff face very near the rockfall. The animal was not moving,
but was seen to be alive. Sue telephoned Area Co-ordinator Dave
Jarvis to advise him of what was being seen.
12.00
– Dan & Lesley Jarvis arrived at the cove to relieve Sue
& Kate. After about an hour the ‘beachmaster’ hauled
out onto the beach & was showing some interest in the mother,
who had still remained in the same location all morning, at which
point she moved further up the beach into the cave, so that only
her rear flippers were visible & then a short while later disappearing
completely from sight.
14.00
– Lesley saw activity around the mouth of the cave, called
to Dan to ring Sue Sayer, which resulted in a text message to all
concerned ‘Pup is alive! The Mum with the pup this pm is definitely
Missies mum! YIPPEE’. Which was a pretty satisfactory outcome.
Thanks
as ever to the staff at the National Seal Sanctuary, members of
the public & BDMLR medics involved in all of the operations.
Dave
Jarvis
Cornwall Area Co-ordinator
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on images to enlarge - all images copyright Dave Jarvis/BDMLR |
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River
Humber Fin Whale Stranding
Thursday 1st November 2007
Received a call at 7.00 am from
Simon Drayton to say the whale that had been spotted alive on Monday
in the river had come ashore. Reports indicated could be up to 60ft
in length. Luckily I was almost out of the door on my way to work
anyway, so was able to respond very quickly (and not go to work
!).
On scene at the dock I was unable
to immediately locate the whale but the tide had come in sufficiently
to refloat it (unfortunately dead although this had yet to be confirmed).
The coastguard reported it was now floating down the middle of the
river in the shipping lane (!). In the meantime Bev Drayton coordinated
the rescue, and I was joined by another member of my team Paul Reaney-Sygrove,
to support me. Just as well as the media attention had already ballooned,
with Radio Humberside and the Yorkshire Post already on scene. I
was able to give quick interviews to keep them happy and up to date,
and no sooner had a told them that the whale was reportedly dead,
than we got a call saying a MOP had put a 999 call in saying they’d
seen it splashing about (!).
The whale was now visible and ‘appeared’
to be moving at around 6 or 7 knots, but Paul confirmed that the
tide was flowing at that rate, and that there was unfortunately
no movement from the whale. It was also belly up – white in
colour with deep throat grooves visible. At this point it turned
into an identification exercise, rather than a rescue. L I spoke
to Humber Rescue about the possibility of them sending a boat out
and they said it may be possible early afternoon (I could hardly
expect the volunteers to turn out from work for a dead whale!).
The carcass floated past, still
in the middle of the river, and I spoke to Sue Rhoades on a number
of occasions who said if it stayed in the fast flowing channel it
would drift closer to the shore somewhere under the Humber Bridge
around Hessle and Ferriby Foreshore, about 15 minutes drive away.
We took the decision to move there as there was nothing more we
could do at our current location.
Once there I was joined by Assistant
Coordinators Joel and Freddie Taylor, and medic Chris Lowes. We
were also joined by representatives from BBC Look North, Yorkshire
TV, Sky News, The Hull Daily Mail (via phone) and Radio Humberside,
and a number of members of the public. I also receive a call from
Tony Woodley saying he’d had calls from the media too to HQ!
Interest was growing, despite the whale having passed away.
We waited perhaps 45 minutes but
couldn’t spot the carcass, despite practically everyone looking.
I spoke to the police about the possibility of their helicopter
giving us a hand and they kindly agreed, although it was currently
on a task over Hull, but would attend if possible. Meanwhile one
of the crew from Humber Rescue arrived (so sorry, I can’t
remember your name!) and agreed to take me out to identify the whale
and take a sample (I’d already spoken to Paul Jepson from
the Natural History Museum who were very interested). They also
agreed to take the film crew from Look North. The whale was then
sighted a significant distance away, and the tide was turning so
was unlikely to come any further towards us.
Once suited and booted, and having
been reminded by Joel and Freddie to take the obvious with me on
the boat – like gloves! (woops! - thanks guys!), we headed
into the Humber to locate the whale, taking a slight detour on route
to a reported overturned yacht (which ironically later turned out
to be the carcass!). We received sightings from MOP via the Coastguard
of another sighting, but it turned out to be a partially filled
black dustbin bag. Well it could’ve been an Orca!! ;-)
By this time we were joined by the
police helicopter, who quickly located the whale at the entrance
to Barrow Haven on the south bank of the river. We attended to find
the carcass stuck in the mud, but sill partially submerged, with
the underside and one pectoral fin showing, a small amount of the
lower jaw, but nothing else. It clearly wasn’t 60 feet in
length, but around 27 feet. Identification was still difficult,
although it was not a Humpback, but some species of Baleen nonetheless.
Joel and Fred arrived on the bank to assist with identification,
and took some significant photographs (which were later sent to
HQ).
After a number of interviews on
board and taking of a sample (for which I owe to the boat handling
skills of the Humber Rescue crew!) we headed back to shore –
for more interviews. After popping home to put the sample in my
freezer (next to the kids fish fingers) I still managed to get to
work for 2.15. Damn ;-)
HQ later identified the whale as
a Fin, although given the lack of visibility of the rest of it,
could still have been a Sei or even a Blue!
As with operations of this magnitude
the ‘thanks’ list could be endless! But can I offer
my sincere thanks to:
Simon and Bev Drayton for their
unending help, support and coordination,
My assistant coordinators Joel and Fred Taylor and my team of medics,
who never fail to be enthusiastic and dedicated,
Volunteers from Humber Rescue who provided services above and beyond,
including the incredible patience they displayed during all the
interviews!!
The Coastguard who were as professional as always,
Humberside police for the use of their helicopter in locating the
whale (hope that didn’t sound like they let me fly it?! ;-)
)
Alan Stewart
BDMLR
Regional Coordinator - Humber
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on images to enlarge - all images copyright author |
Joel & Freddie
Taylor |
Terry Carrott - Yorkshire
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