Essex
seal pup rescues
It has been a fairly quiet summer for Common
Seal Pup rescues in Essex this year (3 pups and one adult). So our
little pinniped friends caught us all off guard when we had three
rescues in a week! It had myself and assistant coordinator Leon
Woodrow wondering what on earth was going on!! Seals don’t
pup in October… do they?
Leon collected two pups between the 25th and
28th October. Both were weaned pups (so probably born at the mid
to end of September) that were very underweight, one had a possible
boat injury. The other was also a weaned Common that was found in
Felixstowe. For MMM Becky Fisher it was her first call out. Her
report, as well as a picture of the seal is below. All the seals
are now at RSPCA East Winch (Norfolk).
Faye Archell
BDMLR Essex Coordinator
Felixstowe Pup Rescue
24th October
On Tuesday 24th October I had my first call
out! I was told that an injured seal pup had been seen at Landguard
Fort, Felixstowe, “about 200 yards north of the car park just
past a white building”. I set off with my box and towels,
very nervous, knowing that I was the only medic for Felixstowe and
so could be dealing with this alone.
I parked at the Fort at about 4.00pm and set off down the beach
looking out for the white building, thinking every rock was a seal
pup. After about five minutes I started to get worried because,
although there were plenty of seal-shaped rocks, there was no seal,
and no white building. There was however a giant white radio tower
so I decided to keep walking and eventually, about half a mile down
the beach, I found a man (let’s call him “Geoff”)
standing over a very small common seal pup. He told me that he had
found the pup earlier and chased it into the sea - it had come back
out immediately, and he had then stood with it for the last 45 minutes.
I called the BDMLR centre and described the pup to them. I was told
to stay with the pup; they would get back to me.
After first examining
the pup Geoff had said several times, “Oh isn’t he cute!
Don’t you just want to stroke him?!” I had warned him
that seal pups can give a very nasty bite, and he must not touch
him, to which he had quickly replied, “Oh yes, of course of
course”. However, while I was on the phone to the centre,
I saw Geoff bending down to stroke the pup, which went for him (luckily
just missing his hand) at which point Geoff jumped up and walked
away, glancing back to check that I was still on the phone and hadn’t
seen him! I now understood why we were told at training to have
someone assigned to crowd control!
After a few minutes, I was called by Faye from BDMLR who told me
she was an hour and a half away, but would be happy to come down
and collect the pup if it needed to go to a seal sanctuary. I had
another look at 
the
pup and described it to her. It had a bit of a wrinkle at its neckline,
and I could just make out its pelvic bone, and it appeared to be
shivering. This coupled with the fact that Geoff and I were standing
within centimetres of the pup without it trying to get away, led
to the decision that I would catch it, and drive to meet Faye.
By this time my dad had arrived so he stayed with Geoff and the
pup while I went back to the car to get my plastic box, which was
unfortunately too small! However, my dad had his king size quilt
in the back of his car, ready to take to the launderette, so I grabbed
that and headed back with a towel. We spread the quilt out next
to the pup and then chased it into the middle of it, before folding
it up around it and picking it up like a hammock, which, for this
little pup, worked perfectly. He put up a bit of a fight at first,
but after calling out a few times, he stayed still and quiet while
my dad and Geoff carried him with me supervising! We got a few odd
looks from dog walkers, but we soon had him tucked up nicely in
the boot of my dad’s car and, after thanking Geoff for all
his help, set off for ‘Toys ‘R’ Us’ car
park at the Copdock interchange in Ipswich, where we met Faye and
her dad at about 7.30pm. They examined the pup, again with some
odd looks from passers-by, transferred it into a cage, and then
drove off to the seal sanctuary. Faye rang me the next day (while
I was looking for a new quilt) to tell me that the pup was doing
well, and asked me to write this piece for the website, so here
it is! I hope you enjoyed reading about my first rescue!
Rebecca Fisher,
Felixstowe Medic.
Business
as usual in Cornwall…
25th – 26th October 2006.
25th October.
0900: The National Seal Sanctuary contacted Coordinator Dave Jarvis
about an adult female constantly hauling out on a beach close to
Hope Cove in Devon. The information was then passed on to BDMLR
HQ and West Devon Coordinator Lissa Goodwin.
1130: Dave received a call from a member of
the public about a pup on Hayle Beach. He mobilised Medics Lesley
and Phil Jarvis to the scene and advised the Sanctuary who had also
received a call and had sent out members of the Animal Care Team
(ACT) to pick it up. The pup was found to have injuries to the jaw,
a flipper and an eye. The animal was taken for rehabilitation when
the ACT arrived.
1230: Then Dave had
another call, this time about a pup near Bideford in North Devon.
He passed on the details to Sue White at BDMLR HQ, who called out
Medics Hannah Walter, Ross Compton and Vicky Cartwright. The pup
was uplifted by them due to its poor condition and taken to Loche
& Preston vets where medic Sue Gear works. Vet Vicky White waited
for the pup to arrive and gave it fluids and cleaned up it's eyes
before being relayed to RSPCA Hospital West Hatch in Taunton via
Medic Chaynee Hodgetts.
1700: At the end of the day, the ACT had a
call about a pup at Watergate Bay, Newquay. Dave was contacted again
and he sent out Assistant Coordinator Jenny Haley to look for the
pup while he picked up Coordinator Tim Bain with Medic Lesley Jarvis.
Jenny called back to say she had located the pup and that it had
severe injuries to the rear flippers. On arrival, Tim and Jenny
carried out a detailed health check of the pup, finding also that
its temperature was high at 39.1C. The ACT were advised and the
pup transported to them at the Sanctuary as quickly as possible.
The clinical assessment found bite wounds to the head, all four
flippers and to the body. The bites to the rear flippers and tail
were particularly nasty, with some bone and tendons visible and
also a temperature of 41C. The bleeding was staunched and wounds
were cleaned. Its breathing rate was continuous and the pup was
emitting what can only be described as screaming.
26th October.
1030: Messages were received by Dave from National Coordinator Trevor
Weeks and the Seal Sanctuary advising him of an adult seal apparently
caught in netting at Porthleven. Tim Bain and Phil Jarvis attended
and conducted a search of the area after speaking to the caller
who was on a boat but was unable to show them where it was due to
the falling tide. After walking the beach and nearby cliff the seal
could not be located.
Dave Jarvis
Cornwall Coordinator
Seal
pup rescue - Welcombe Bay, Devon
25th
October
Sue from HQ called at about 13.15 about
a distressed seal at Welcombe Mouth. After initial hesitation (you
know the workload tight now!), I enlisted Emma for an extra pair
of hands, and set off for Welcombe. We arrived at the same time
as another local medic, Hannah Water and searched rocks close to
the steps down to the beach. The seal pup was so quiet we missed
it at first, but a group of tourists found it, along with the third
medic to arrive, Victoria Cartwright.
The grey seal pup was very quiet and docile, with
blood all around its chin and thick pale green discharge streaming
from the eyes. Most time was taken in trying to relay messages and
pictures back to BDMLR to in order to get advice over whether to
try and remove the seal from the beach. No mobile signal in that
valley, so lots of walking and driving back towards the village.
We were instructed to collect the pup and take it to a vet (can’t
remember which one) in Bude for further assessment/treatment, before
it was taken on to West Hatch. Hannah did a great job of getting
the pup into a plastic crate which between us we took the pup up
the beach and back to the car park in. Hannah (well equipped with
a wee panel van) took the pup on to the vet.
Ross Compton
- BDMLR Medic
Pup transfer report
At around
5pm I received a call from Sue White at HQ requesting if I could
assist in a relay of a seal rescued from Welcombe beach, North Devon.
The seal was reported to be 60-80cms long, bleeding from the mouth,
with "gunked up eyes" and partially moulted. We arranged
for Hannah Walters to bring the seal from Welcombe vets (where it
had received fluids and treatment) and meet us at the Roundswell
industrial estate, Barnstaple, for me (and my Dad who was cementing
a step!) to assess and relay the seal to RSPCA West Hatch. The seal
had been tube fed at Welcombe vets prior to transport. Unfortunately
there had been an accident near Roundswell so we were delayed, and
on arrival met Hannah, who told us the vets staff had had some difficulty
getting the seal into her van!
On opening the boot of the van we found the seal was a little larger
(and fiestier) than we were expecting ! I 
jumped
the seal (who was simultaneously attempting to escape Hannah`s van
and spray copious amounts of nasal fluid on anything in range) and
transferred her to our car at around 6pm. During this process we
found the seal was particularly vocal, and we got some strange looks
from MoPs (the location for transfer was a petrol station next to
a Wimpy !) Once in our car I started to examine the seal, I found
she was a female grey seal and assessed her to be in poor condition.
Despite being large, aggressive and vocal, she was thin, had purulent
green discharge from her left eye and also thick discharge from
her right eye. There was an open lesion (diameter ca. 1cm) on the
underside of the left rear flipper, and swellings on both flippers,
with numerous nodules palpable on the foreflippers. Her dorsal surface
had further lesions and associated alopecia, and she also had some
nodular lesions on her ventral surface. Her breathing was rapid
and laboured, with severe moist rale sounds audible (without stethoscope
auscultation), her respiratory rate on collection from the van was
very high (near human rate) and continuous. She had copious amounts
of nasal discharge and severe oral bleeding. The inside of the mouth
was bleeding from a wound, the teeth were blackened, and the presence
of severe halitosis was rapidly noted. I palpated the seal and attempted
a TPR assessment: temperature was 33.8 degrees C (hypothermic),
pulse was impossible to obtain due to animal`s aggression, and respiration
is noted above. Her palpebral reflex was good, but her eyes were
in very poor condition and were mostly held closed. A CRT was not
helpful as the mouth was full of blood and the gums inflamed, with
severe gingivitis and recession. I also noted she had no umbilicus,
was larger than expected, and was actually a moulted greycoat.
We then left Roundswell with the seal, whose respiratory rate was
still high. she actually opened her eyes while mounting an escape
bid, moving around and peering at me, before vocalising and covering
me with a very forceful exhalation ! Her respiratory rate settled
at ca. 18 br/min, but she remained quite vocal. The animal`s halitosis
was becoming increasingly apparent, the smell in the car being worse
than a necropsy. At this point my Das noted "a smelly day was
had by all "! Although her respiratory rate had settled she
still lapsed into patterns of rapid breathing and showed signs of
going into dive reflex and decreasing responsiveness several times.
At one point it became apparent that she was becoming a little too
unresponsive, and I decided to try and rouse her and keep her conscious-
however I didn`t want to increase her aggression or stress levels
and so started to talk and sing to her. Her responsiveness levels
remained very concerning, but thankfully, during a seal-responsiveness-checking
chorus of ABBA`s "Does your mother know that you`re out"
she took a breath, peered at me, and started vocalising !
We got off the motorway at Taunton, but had difficulty finding West
Hatch and ended up driving towards 
Minehead
! After a phone call to Shaun Clements (West Hatch vet) on the seal
and the exact location of West Hatch, we eventually arrived at ca.
7pm. We assisted RSPCA staff to move and weigh her. She was 13.7
kg. We then took her to a holding pen where the RSPCA staff administered
a deflammatory oral spray, cleared her eyes and tube fed her. Her
temperature was ca. 30 degrees C. Her eyes showed signs of ulceration
and possibly cataracts. A large oral laceration, many ulcerations
and associated pathology were found to be the cause of the oral
bleeding. She had oral ulcers and black lesions, her teeth were
in a very bad state, the enamel blackened and gums receded. A nodule
(5-6 inches down on her right hand side of the chest) and a swelling
of the right hand side of the head were noted. Once treatment was
finished and necessary details recorded (including the seal`s name
"Tina" assigned during transport !) we left West Hatch
and headed (yet again) to a petrol station, this time to attempt
to clean the car, which now smelt thoroughly of Tina the seal`s
severe halitosis, and returned home.
The next morning I phoned West Hatch who said she survived the night,
and HQ rand to say that she was ca. 4-5 weeks old.
The seal callout livened up the day
(prior to seal care I was revising A level cellular respiration,
and before "seal ambulance driving" Dad was cementing)
and due to the seal`s condition, temperament and the smell in the
car, this relay certainly won`t be forgotten !
Chaynee
Hodgetts - Marine Mammal Medic
From
sunny Devon…….. seal pup monitored
24th
October
[ Images
by Nigel Mortimer- click on pics to enlarge ]
On the afternoon of Tuesday Oct. 24th phone
calls came in about a seal pup being “stuck” in the
rocks near Start Point, Devon.
Lissa Goodwin, West Devon Co-ordinator, Sue
Davie, East Devon Co-ordinator accompanied by her daughter Laurie,
and I (Plymouth medic), drove in the general direction whilst more
intelligence was being gathered at head office as to the precise
location of the incident.
After a frustrating drive with getting stuck
behind slow-moving traffic, Lissa arrived at the correct spot: (Lannacombe
beach) at the same time as me (What are the chances!), quickly followed
by Sue and Laurie.
The pup was found
above the high tide line, tucked away on a bed of seaweed at the
closed end of a deep channel formed by steep rocks. It transpired
that the female had spent much time searching for her pup, but could
not find the spot where the little one had probably ended up that
morning during atrocious conditions, 
with strong on-shore winds.
We found Nigel Mortimer
(Devon Medic & Marine Conservation Officer SHDC*) guarding the
pup, obviously very concerned about the little one’s desperate
plight, and preparing to move it from its hiding place, with the
help of local people, to make it easier for mum to find.
After a quick discussion with Lissa, it was
decided to refrain from doing this, since the lingering smell of
human hands on the pup may well have resulted in the mother rejecting
it.
Nigel, being overdue
at home, left, after we thanked him for his help, and we decided
to stay until dark to see 
if Mum would find the pup after all. The youngster’s sporadic
calls were drowned out by the sound of the surf. We made some pathetic
attempts at crying like seal pups from close to where it was hidden,
in the vain hope that Mum would come towards the sound. We must
have made a very strange impression on passers-by, when they saw
us peering into the surf, uttering morbid howls…….
Sue, bless her, had brought hot coffee in true
co-ordinators fashion, and this kept us going till long after dark,
while we kept checking on the pup. In the end Lissa made the executive
decision to leave things alone and asked Sue and me to return at
first light, reasoning that, since the pup looked in excellent condition,
the situation was not desperate enough to risk making a messy rescue
attempt. Lissa, unfortunately had other work commitments meaning
that she was unable to return with us the following day, however
we had Dave McDonald (Assistant Co-ordinator), James Barnett (Veterinary
Consultant), Chris Inman (RSPCA), the Jarvis family (Cornwall Team)
and the Seal Sanctuary at Gweek on standby should we need to launch
a tricky rescue.
It was still dark when Sue, Laurie, and I arrived
at the beach the next morning. It was a heavy surf- breaking- on-
the- shore / lashing rain kind of black morning, and the words “only
a maniac” sprang to mind. An inspection with my ten LED torch
soon told us that the pup had gone.
After a brief spell in Sue’s car to get
a little respite from the rain, we decided to split into two search
units, each to take a piece of adjacent coast line. I had just started
off when I encountered a small group of youngsters who had been
there the night before, and who appeared anxious to know how the
pup was. I told them it had left its hiding place and we were going
to see if we could find it.
Just then one of the teenage girls pointed
out into the surf and shouted “There they are!” Sure
enough, there was mum, guiding her offspring slowly towards the
eastern end of the little bay, I signalled Sue and Laurie with my
torch, and they joined us. After a brief search from the cliffs
we spotted the pair, well away from easy access, mother suckling
her young. We stood in the lashing rain and gazed down at them for
some time, not caring how wet we were getting.
Nature is wonderful…….
Arie den
Hollander, Plymouth Medic
( * - South Hams District Council
)
Scotland
seal pup rescue
23rd October
We had a call from the SSPCA this evening (23rd
October) about 5pm saying they had a call from a gentleman from
the area to the west of Thurso reporting a young seal on its own
on the beach.
Jim, who had taken the original call, rang
me and as I wasn't working and live 600yds or so away from him,
said I would jump in his truck with him. On the way down I text
Kas as she has not yet been on a proper 'shout' but done plenty
for the observation of a few beaches etc to see if she was available
to come along too, which she was. I let her know the location and
off we all went.
Jim and I arrived at the beach and then went
'oh gawd which road' -luckily he chose the right one which is not
a road but a track. He pulled up at the end of the track at the
top of the cliff and we descended a few steps and viewed the 'beach'.
It is nearly a cliff climb down to a pebble beach that is no more
than 100yds long!
Jim spotted the pup first well above high
water mark just having a little wriggle. We got down the path after
a few slips and slides and as we approached the pup it moved onto
its belly to get a better look at us as it had been lying on its
side with its back to us.
It was quite a healthy looking pup so it was
left in location and neither Jim nor I could see any other wounds
or marks on it.
We met up with Kas as we were leaving, explained
we had seen the pup and I showed her the pictures I had taken on
the camera view screen, and she agreed it looked healthy.
Paula Gent
- BDMLR Caithness Coordinator
Yorkshire
schools raise funds for BDMLR
20th
October
[ click
on images to enlarge ]
These
photos show two schools in Bridlington East Yorkshire, that Ryan
Walker [MMM & my son] and I went to today. We spent the morning
at St Mary's Primary School who had a fundraising day for British
Divers Marine Life Rescue. The children had made games, brought
in prizes for the games and had a cake stall in the hall and all
the children in the school took part. The idea for the fundraiser
had come from the 'Eco Club' that is run at the school by Tracey
Guild [MMM] who is a teacher at the school. Following the Humpback
Whale rescue in Sept, the children had become interested in the
work we do as Tracey was one of the medics to attend the Hump Back.
I went along with Ryan to say hello and thank you for all their
hard work. The children have also done a towel and sheet collection
and they will be used for the Hull area and stored with the trailer.
I gave a power point presentation to 3 groups of children ranging
from the ages of 5yrs to 11yrs old, some 120 children in all! Ryan
gave technical support and I couldn't have managed without him.
The initial count shows the children have raised over £300
for BDMLR ..... enough to buy a Marine Mammal Rescue Kit.
From St Mary's school we had a quick
bite of lunch and went to Quay Street Primary School across the
other side of Bridlington. Karen Cranston BDMLR MMM is a teacher
at this school and organised our visit there. At the school we gave
2 presentations to approximately 80 children in total. The children
had run a couple of competitions that they had made themselves,
and presented me with a cheque for £25 they had raised for
British Divers. They are going to be doing a towel & sheet collection
after Christmas.
The children at both schools were very
well behaved and asked some excellent questions. I have already
been asked back to give further presentations to St Mary's School
and look forward to sharing our knowledge with these enquiring minds.
All in all it has been a busy day but over 200 children have been
reached and they will be our vets and medics of the future. Judging
by the teachers reaction to the talks at both schools, we may have
got some medic recruits also. Both Ryan and I feel it was a productive
day.
Bev
Drayton
Assistant Coordinator Yorkshire & North Lincolnshire.
St
Mary's Primary School |
|
|
Quay
Street Primary School |
|
|
Pup
plays hide and seek with rescuers, Cornwall
14th – 15th
October 2006
At 1000hrs on Saturday morning, Coordinator Dave
Jarvis received a call from RNLI Lifeguard/Medic Ben Gardiner about
a seal pup hauled out at the Penhale end of Perranporth beach, having
originally been seen by a member of the public at 0830hrs. The Animal
Care Team at the National Seal Sanctuary were informed while Dave
and Medics Dan Jarvis and Amanda Foreman attended and walked the
large beach (3 miles), finding only the haulout trail of the pup
coming a few yards out of the water before turning round and going
back in again. With no luck locating it, they returned home. As
the weather was fair and the surf very big (about 10ft) the beach
was very busy with walkers, dogs and surfers it seemed likely the
pup had come out to rest, but had been disturbed back into the water.
Dave had another call at 1400hrs to advise that
the pup had returned and was again sitting in the shallows looking
tired about halfway down the beach. Dave and Dan, this time with
Medic Lesley Jarvis, went up to walk the beach, but again the pup
had disappeared back into the water. While on the beach, Dave took
a call from RSPCA Animal Collection Officer Felicity Cross at 1500hrs
asking for assistance relaying a pup to the Sanctuary. The pup was
coming down from Dorset, so we met another RSPCA ACO at Bodmin to
pick up the pup from him to take in for rehabilitation, where it
was named ‘Narla’. While there, Dave had a third call
about the pup at Perranporth from the RSPCA, who were able to get
a camera phone picture sent to him before it went back out to sea.
This time it was a little further down the beach from the afternoon.
As it was now getting dark, it was hoped that the pup would at least
be able to come out during the evening to have a proper rest without
being disturbed, but Dave sent a message to Ben to ask him to check
just in case.
At 0930hrs on Sunday morning the Cornwall Wildlife
Trust contacted Dave to advise that the pup was once again on the
beach, so he once more got in touch with Ben to ask him to check
the beach, but there was no apparent sign of it. The group had also
received a booking for a dolphin rescue demonstration from Hayle
Surf Life Saving Club for that morning, so Tim Bain, Phil and Dan
Jarvis, Jess Maynard, Simon Bone, Jan and Olivia Egan and family
duly attended, which was very successful and well attended by several
dozen members and other onlookers. However, while packing up the
equipment, Tim had a message from Dave to advise that the Wildlife
Trust had alerted him to a turtle trapped in a pot rope at Holywell
Bay, which in the end turned out to be a weed-covered buoy, much
to the amusement of HQ contact and Director Tony Woodley and everyone
assisting with the BDMLR stand at the Birmingham Dive Show!
Returning to our cars, we decided to have lunch
at The Watering Hole, a pub on Perranporth beach, just in case the
pup came back. Finally our luck was in as not only did we manage
to finish lunch, but also we were able to get lift halfway up the
beach with Ben in a lifeguard truck to where the pup was now sitting
in the shallows again with a small crowd. The pup still appeared
exhausted, and as it was out in the water it was difficult to assess,
so Ben and Dan drove back to the car park to retrieve the seal cage
while the others kept watch over the pup.
Upon returning, it was decided to herd the pup into
shallower water using one of the lifeguards’ rescue surfboards,
a foam floatation device and a towel and managed to get it into
the cage where it could be taken to a safe location away from the
water and properly assessed. Besides being exhausted, the fully
moulted pup appeared to be a good weight, but had been notably quiet
and docile. Its temperature was taken, which was high at 38.5C.
There were two options for the pup – rehabilitation or relocation
to a much quieter beach, so while awaiting a call back from the
ACT at the Sanctuary we removed the pup from the beach.
As the Sanctuary was full, it was decided that the
pup would have to be held overnight in Medic Sue Sayer’s shower
room. Simon Bone, Dave and Lesley met Tim and the others at Sue’s
house where it was tube fed fluids and its temperature was taken
again – down to around 38C, but it remained quiet. Following
further discussions with Senior Animal Care Assistant Tamara Cooper,
it was decided the pup would need to be tubed and its temperature
taken again at 9pm and midnight, but since its temperature was high
so she would also come over and give it antibiotic injections. Sue
monitored the pup for the rest of the night and noted its breathing
rates, which on a few occasions were much higher than the levels
given in the BDMLR Medic Handbook.
At 2100hrs Tim and Dan found the pup’s temperature
was over 39C and an old bite wound on its left foreflipper was oozing
yellowish pus, which was squeezed out. Tamara and Medic Chris Ellis
came over to give it injections and squeezed out even more pus from
the wound. By midnight the high temperature had come down and the
pup was finally looking more active compared to earlier.
The next day space was made in the Sanctuary’s
Hospital to allow the pup to come in. Tim tube fed it one more time
at 1000hrs before it was transported there, where it was named ‘Simba’.
A big thank you to everyone involved in this exhausting
game of cat and mouse, especially the Perranporth lifeguards who
assisted with monitoring, transport and the actual rescue, and Sue
Sayer for the use of her shower room as a temporary pen (again!).
Coordinator
Dave Jarvis
BDMLR Cornwall
Pup
flies in for rehabilitation!
11th – 12th October 2006.
During the evening, Medic Dan Jarvis received a
call from friends Mark and Susie Groves on the Isles of Scilly,
who run ‘Island Sea Safaris’ wildlife boat trips. They
in turn had received calls from the local Police and another from
a visitor about a pup on Old Town Beach on St Mary’s Island.
As Mark and Susie were on the mainland they were unable to assess
the pup that was in fact practically on their doorstep! So they
called BDMLR’s Isles of Scilly contact David McBride to have
a look while Dan informed the Seal Sanctuary.
David found the pup and described its condition
to Dan over the phone. It had a couple of small but deep injuries
to its rear end and appeared underweight, although it was still
very much alert and didn’t seem dehydrated. He was advised
to keep people away from the pup, but unfortunately as it was getting
dark and due to the lack of equipment and Medics on the Islands,
nothing further could be done until morning. In the meantime, David
was able to take photos and email them over for further assessment.
In the morning, the Animal Care Team at the Sanctuary
were able to see the photos and contacted Ri, who lives on the Islands,
and who has helped get pups flown over via the British International
helicopters that run daily trips to and from the mainland. Ri and
David found the pup again and were able to capture it and load it
into a makeshift container for transport to Penzance Heliport, where
it was met by Sanctuary staff member Rachael Vine, Coordinator Dave
Jarvis and Medic Lesley Jarvis and taken for rehabilitation. The
pup was named ‘Mutley’ and her injuries are now healing
well.
Our thanks go to Mark and Susie, David, Ri and the
British International for their help during this successful rescue
operation.
Incidentally, just prior to the call about this
pup, another call had been received from Cornwall Wildlife Trust
about a whitecoat pup on the island of Tresco, but again having
received digital photos and consulting with the Animal Care Team,
this animal was monitored on the beach, where it was believed to
have been reunited with its mother.
Coordinator
Dave Jarvis
BDMLR Cornwall
Busy
start to grey seal rescue season in Cornwall
2nd – 9th October 2006.
1200 hrs 2nd October: The first call came from the
National Seal Sanctuary to Coordinator Dave Jarvis about a whitecoat
pup at Crooklets Beach, Bude. The caller had been advised to keep
people and dogs away and not to touch it. Dave called Medic Max
Faulkner, who unfortunately couldn’t attend as he was moving
house! However Max called Medic Hannah Walter who also lives nearby
and who was able to attend. Hannah arrived but, sadly, the caller
had had to leave and during the intervening 30 minutes since the
caller left and Hannah’s arrival somebody had already been
over and petted the pup, which would have cause the mother to abandon
it if she were still around. Hannah uplifted the pup and she met
Maz from the Sanctuary’s Animal Care Team (ACT) near Bodmin
to take back with her for rehabilitation. The pup was named ‘Ronnie’.
1230 hrs 6th October: A second call to Bude, this
time Widemouth Bay. Hannah, working just up the road from the beach,
was able to go out again to take a look, but unfortunately this
young whitecoat was already dead. The Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s
Marine Strandings Network was informed.
1800 hrs 7th October:
Call number three to Bude! Today it was at Wansum Beach, next to
Widemouth By, so again Hannah went out. She made contact with the
caller and with their help found the pup, another very young whitecoat
that appeared to have an injured flipper. As the pup was also very
thin, Coordinators Tim Bain and Dave Jarvis, with Medic Lesley Jarvis,
travelled up to Bude to tube feed the pup fluids before arriving
at
the Sanctuary at 2230hrs, where it was named ‘Magnet’.
0930hrs 8th October:
Not at Bude this time, but at Gwithian, near Hayle. Dave received
a call from the Wildlife Trust, and he contacted Medic Rachael Vine
who also works at the Sanctuary to attend. Dave, Lesley and Tim
met Rachael at the site to find yet another whitecoat pup sitting
in the middle of this busy public beach. Following discussions with
the Sanctuary there was little alternative, so they uplifted it
for rehabilitation, where the ACT named it ‘Pebbles’.
1530hrs 9th October:
During the afternoon, Tim Bain had a call from the Seal Sanctuary
about a pup on Porthgwidden Beach, St Ives. He contacted Dave and
Lesley, who brought the cage while he looked for the pup. He found
it – yes, another whitecoat – being thrown up the rocks
at the side of the beach by rough surf. Tim was able to pull the
pup out when the waves receded and await the arrival of Dave, Lesley
and Medic Sue Sayer. After consulting with the ACT it was decided
the pup should be brought in. This was duly done and the pup, ‘Koko’,
is now doing well.
Coordinator
Dave Jarvis
BDMLR Cornwall
Fabulous
Fund-raisers !
20th October
Hi All
A big THANK YOU to all those people who have taken part in fundraising
and education days for shaking buckets and collection boxes and
handing out leaflets, please see below the latest money raised;
Folkestone Fundraiser/Awareness Day £199.98 (special thanks
to The Three Mariners for their cheque)
Clevedon Festival made £65.37 as well as doing a MMM course
on the Sunday!
Thames Festival - Blue Ribbon Event raised a grand total of £215.93
NEC Dive Show - money raised from bucket shaking is a wapping £2119.10
( a record ! )
NEC Dive Show - money raised from merchandise £752.77
A Psychic
Night held in Essex by Jim Hayes raised £500.00
A fantastic effort from our dedicated medic's and supporters.
Sue White - BDMLR HQ Administrator
The Dive Show stand - click on image
to enlarge
Dead
juvenile Northern bottlenose whale washes up near Inverness
16th October
At approximately
15.45hrs, a call was received on Elaines mobile (24hrs) from Aberdeen
Coastguard (Brian Longmuir) to say that a whale (species unidentified)
had partially beached (still in shallow waters) on the East Side
of Inverness. Elaine contacted BDMLR head office with the callers
number but they were already aware of the situation and were in
the process of contacting Natalie Simmonds (Area Co-odinator) and
local Medics for response. Bob Reid of the Scottish agricultural
College in Inverness had also received a call of the partial stranding
and had contacted BDMLR Head Office prior to Elaine calling. A second
call was then made to Aberdeen Coastgurds (Steve Smith) by Elaine
who confirmed that BDMLR Head Office were dealing with the situation
and that help would be arriving. By this time it was confirmed that
the whale had now fully stranded. Meantime, the coastguards were
happy to continue assisting on scene along with the local police
and SSPCA to control public disturbance on the beach. Steve Smith
was advised to update his colleagues on keeping the 
animal
comfortable (In an upright position, if possible), digging trenches
for the pectoral fins and to keep the animal wet, avoiding getting
water in the blowhole, and to keep noise and disturbance to a minimum
to avoid unnecessary stress to the whale.
[Image
by Charlie Phillips - click to enlarge. Further images on image
Library]
At 17.37hrs
Coastguard SteveSmith called Elaine back to confirm that the whale
had been pronounced dead by Bob Reid of SAC who had now arrived
on scene. Elaine called Head Office and spoke with Alan Knight who
confirmed that Bob Reid had called them pronouncing the whale dead
and that an autopsy would be carried out. Alan Knight confirmed
that the species of the whale had been identified as a young Northern
Bottlenose Whale.
Although head office had been notifed of the situation, The Montrose
/ Arbroath Team of BDMLR thank most sincerely Aberdeen Coastguards
Brian Longmuir and Steve Smith for telecommunications to Elaines
mobile.
Elaine
Roft
British Divers Marine Life Rescue - Montrose/Arbroath Area Co-ordinator
