Grep
Pup Rescue and release for Montrose team
25th February
At approximately 18.00 hrs Medic Thom McNeil received
a call from Arbroath Police saying that someone had reported a seal
at the West Links near the miniature railway. On arrival Thom found
a Grey pup which seemed OK (by torchlight) but was not in a good
situation (in the vicinity of a nightclub and on a public footpath),
he was phoneless but Medic Bob Pert stays in the vicinity so Thom
travelled to his house and accompanied him down to the animal. In
the car's headlights it was noted that the pup had quite an issue
of blood around the mouth and Thom remarked that the pup had been
coughing. The blood looked very light in colour and it was worrying
to both medics that they could have a pup with a lungworm infestation.
Elaine was phoned and, after some discussion, it was decided to
take "Buddy" to our vet in Laurencekirk and have him check
the pup over. If it was an injury causing the bleeding then it could
be treated before release in a quieter area or, if it was lungworm,
could be taken to rehab facilities. Medics Thom and Bob, complete
with a fiesty Buddy, travelled to Ferryden and picked up Elaine.
8pm Montrose
Deputy Co-ordinator Bob Pert and Thom McNeil arrived at Ferryden
to Collect Area Co-ordinator Elaine Roft. Elaine, Bob and Thom then
made the journey of approximately 12 miles to local vets Robson
and Partners arriving at 9.20pm. A health check was carried out
on our male grey pup " Buddy" by vet Ian Anderson. Respiration
remained normal at 12bpm throughout the journey and dropped to 9bpm
on arrival at the surgery. The lungs were not harsh, the pup had
good colouring and the jaw and teeth were examined for breakages.
As the wound to the chin was a minor one, 1ml of synulox was administered
intramuscular. During its time at the surgery the seals temperature
rose to 39.9 which was probably due to the heat in the examination
room combined with Medics holding it down. The vet was satisfied
having administered drugs that the pup who weighed a healthy 20.5kg
was not in need of rehab which had been provisionally booked at
Laurence Brains premises at New Deer. "Buddy" was then
sprayed down with water to reduce heat, left in the transportation
tank for 5 minutes then transported to a nearby beach for release
at 10.20pm. Once at the beach "Buddy" had a few sniffs
into the sea air took a last look back at the medics and made his
way over some rocks before settling down. The team were satisfied
that he would remain there undisturbed until the next high tide.
medics will patrol this area of beach tomorrow to see if the pup
has moved on overnight.
Thanks to Arbroath Police Station for notifying us / Fraserburgh
team for being on standby to assist with a relay if rehabilitation
was required / Laurence Brain for provisional booking of a seal
pen / Medics Thom McNeil, Bob Pert and Elaine Roft and vet Ian Anderson
Picture Credits Bob Pert BDMLR
Elaine
Roft
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
Montrose Area Co-ordinator (Inverbervie-Easthaven)
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Striped
dolphin, Llanelli
23rd February
I got a call from Sue at HQ at around ten thirty
am, then phoned Phil Lewis for the lowdown and, after a brief Anneka
Rice spell trying to track down some waders (trousers, not birds)
at Cardiff University, Caleb Munday (MMMedic with a drysuit) and
I left the Capital and headed off to help a stranded Striped dolphin
at Llanelli. We arrived at the North Dock at Midday and found the
animal swimming around an inflated pool, a short distance from the
original stranding site. She had been moved there by Terry Leadbetter
and Darren from the Welsh Marine Life Rescue and RSPCA inspectors
Nigel Duguid, Rohan Barker and Richard Abbott were taking turns
in the rather
chilly pool, walking her around the enclosure with the aid of a
stretcher. Others that were sufficiently drysuited joined in the
rota. Soon, RSPCA inspector Elaine Spence arrived with trainee Jacqui
Mills and others, with some much needed hot coffee for the cold
dolphin walkers.
She was a young female Striped dolphin of around
1.6m, moderately malnutritioned, with eyes shut tight throughout
and fairly quick breathing. There had been reported bleeding from
the genital slit and/or anus. However, this had apparently ceased
and was thought to be superficial. Over the next few hours there
was little change until a marked decline in her behaviour between
two and three pm. Her body position in the water was less stable
and when tested swimming solo, her buoyancy and breathing seemed
less coordinated. From half past two, she began to thrash about
and arch her back. We were awaiting a vet, but it didn't look hopeful.
Shortly, Ewan Lloyd from St. James Vet Group in Swansea arrived.
The decision was made to euthanase, after discussion with James
Barnett, BDMLR Vet Director. Upon
closer inspection, the dolphin had some ventral bruising and minor
abrasion wounds. By this time her eyes were open and she was displaying
major tremoring. A blood sample was taken and before euthanasia
could be completed, the animal had collapsed - the jaw became loose
and there were no obvious body movements. Reflexes were monitored
and slight pulses were noticed visually in the jaw, which ceased
after a few minutes. After stethoscopic examination she was pronounced
dead at 3:05pm. Rod Penrose, Strandings Officer for Wales, who had
been there for much of the ordeal, took the dolphin for post mortem.
During the day, many locals came past to see the
dolphin and wished her well. The later visitors were sorry to hear
the bad news.
Helen
Hedworth - Wales Assistant Coordinator (Cardiff)
Pics by Helen
Hedworth - click images for larger size
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Click
HERE
for more images from BBC website
Pup
rescued from snowy beach - Hunstanton, Norfolk
21st February
Kieran Copeland, BDMLR Anglia coordinator and Sea
Life animal care manager called me around 8am on Monday morning
21st February.
The day was cold and had seen a few inches of snow
over night which still covered the ground. A member of the public
walking their dog had come across a young grey seal on the beach
at the bottom of the cliffs at Old Hunstanton and had called it
in to the Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary.
Since Duane and I live only a few hundred yards
from where the seal had been seen and have a 4X4 we were asked to
meet Kieran at the Lifeboat station and check the situation out,
not that I can blame Kieran for not wanting to walk the beach in
that weather!
The pup, a weaned male, had several deep wounds
on the back of its head, its back and hind flippers. Also even though
it had been sitting on the snow covered beach since the tide left
it high and dry, there were no signs of it having moved around,
its temperature was over 39 degrees.
Despite all this the pup put up quite a fight attempting
to bite everyone and trying to dash under the Landrover to escape
its would be rescuers.
It was eventually captured with Duane's jacket as
both the Anglian area Coordinator (Kieran) and Safety Coordinator
(Duane) had forgotten to bring towels with them. I absolve myself
of any responsibility for this here as I had stayed at home with
our baby son. The seal was finally bundled into a veri kennel and
taken to Sea Life where its wounds were cleaned, one of these turned
out to go right to the bone and while another had completely punctured
the right hind flipper. The pup is now being given a course of anti-biotic
drugs and painkillers and will be fed back up to a suitable release
weight, it currently weighs 23kg, before rejoining its companions
in the Wash.
Lucie
Kirk
National Coordinator
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
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Search
for stranded cetacean, Mylor, Cornwall.
20th February
At about midday today, a “dolphin” was
seen swimming in circles in Mylor Yacht Harbour, near Falmouth.
Members of the public watched it until 4pm, when it stranded in
the harbour. The RSPCA were called, who in turn called BDMLR West
Cornwall Coordinator Dave Jarvis. Dave mobilised Medics to the area
while he and Medic Lesley Jarvis collected the Rescue Trailer.
As Medics began arriving at the harbour, it emerged
that just shortly before we got there, members of the public had
put the animal back in the water, and it was last seen swimming
around the floating pontoons in the harbour. While Medics continued
to arrive, we split into groups and searched around the pontoons
and along nearby beaches. The people who had refloated the dolphin
had already left, so no description of the animal could be confirmed,
although it was known to be about 4ft in length.
At around 6:30pm it was getting dark, and with no
luck finding the animal, the decision was made to call off the search.
Emergency response leaflets were distributed to people in the area
in case the dolphin was found restranded.
We would like
to thanks the following for attending this incident: Coordinator
Dave Jarvis, Medics Gary Hawkins, Lesley, Phil and Dan Jarvis, Ian
Laird, Amanda Forman and her friends, Martin Gaunt, Tamara Cooper
(National Seal Sanctuary), Marianne Fellows (NSS), Selina Gregory
(NSS), Chris Ellis (NSS) Louise Phillips (NSS volunteer) and RSPCA
ACO Felicity Cross and Inspector Rob Skinner.
Medic Dan Jarvis
BDMLR West Cornwall
(Newquay – Land’s End – St Austell)
Porpoise
call-out for CRRU team
The CRRU veterinary team received a call at approximately 4pm on
Tuesday the 9th of February to a harbour porpoise that had live
stranded at the Waters of Philforth, Fraserburgh (as an aside, the
initial report from the person who found it was that of a dolphin
stranding, which highlights the difficulty of identification for
members of the public).
The CRRU veterinary team arrived on scene to be
met by Kenneth McClennan and Andy Ireland of BDMLR Fraserburgh.
Two SSPCA officers were with the animal, which was located in small
stream/estuary approximately 2.5km form the road. The report was
that the animal was initially found on sand, but had been carried/dragged
into the water by the people who initially found it.
On examination, the porpoise was in moderate body condition, and
visibly hypothermic (i.e. it was shivering) A strong wind and low
ambient temperature added to the discomfort of the distressed porpoise.
An air mattress was inflated to allow the porpoise to be moved from
the water for a more detailed clinical examination, and to allow
a wind break to be set up to protect both the animal and the team.
It was found to be an adult female, approx 1.7m long, with an estimated
body weight of approximately 60kg. After palpation of the body wall
and closer visual examination, the body condition was noted to be
moderate to poor, and a degree of dehydration (possibly 5-7%) was
found. Attempts to measure body temperature were unsuccessful. Mucous
membranes were pink, and the capillary refill time, although difficult
to assess, appeared to be about 1 second. Chest auscultation revealed
normal heart sounds with the typical sinus arrhythmia associated
with breath-holding. Lung sounds were apparently normal, but an
SSPCA officer reported one episode of coughing, with some discharge,
prior to the arrival of the other teams. Respiration rate remained
4-5 per min throughout, with normal depth. The only fresh lesions
were mild abrasions to the rostrum and the tip of each tail fluke,
concomitant with stranding. A chronic lesion was found on the caudal
part of the peduncle, possible consistent with an old net entanglement
injury, but this was not thought to have been a cause for the animal
to strand. An attempt to pass a stomach tube was made, but before
a tube could be passed a large amount of fluid was regurgitated,
having the appearance of bloody gastric fluid, possible from gastric
ulceration or from a large worm burden. A live worm was also found
in this material. On the basis of this and the poor body condition
and hypothermia, the difficult decision to euthanase the porpoise
was made.
As a small
cetacean with a large surface area to mass ratio, porpoises lose
heat readily to their environment. The harbour porpoise tends to
live life on the edge, in a metabolic sense, all year round, but
this is much more of an issue during winter when food is scarce.
As a general rule, any live-stranded harbour porpoise that is in
less than optimal body condition unfortunately stands little chance
of recovery after being refloated, as it will be too debilitated
to hunt adequately to meet it's energy requirements. Its is a sad
fact for the teams involved in such an episode, but as always the
welfare of the animal is of paramount importance. The initial post-mortem
results for this porpoise indicated it was indeed underweight, with
a very large intestinal and lung worm burden, which were the likely
contributing factors to cause it to strand.
Cameron
McPherson
CRRU Veterinary Surgeon
Thanks to BDMLR head office, the BDLMR Fraserburgh
team, Montrose BDMLR for standing by in case we needed to set up
rotations if a refloat was likely, the SSPCA for their invaluable
support, medic Nick Duthie for mobilising everyone, James Barnett,
and Bob Reid and Jason Barley from the Scottish Agricultural College,
Inverness for reporting the stranding to us and for their great
feedback.
Harbour
porpoise stranding - Fraserburgh
8th February
On Tuesday 8th of February at 2.30pm,
a member of the public contacted the SSPCA to alert them of a stranded
dolphin on the Fraserburgh beach. The call was in turn forwarded
to SSPCA officers and also BDMLR headquarters. Local SSPCA officers
were despatched to the scene, whilst BDMLR HQ contacted Aberdeenshire
assistant Co-ordinator Andrew Ireland and Aberdeen Co-ordinator
Nick Duthie, who in turn contacted Aberdeenshire Co-ordinator Kenneth
McLennan. Kenneth issued a text message (“Dolphin –
Fraserburgh Beach”) to all members of the Fraserburgh group
and then loaded his vehicle with all necessary kit that would be
required for the stranding. Whilst Kenneth, Andrew and all the group
volunteers were on route to the scene a further location update
was issued from BDMLR HQ that the dolphin’s location was ‘The
Waters of Philorth’ however this still left a sizable area
and therefore still required a search. Once the cetacean was discovered,
it was identified as a harbour porpoise and not a dolphin, which
for reasons unknown was located some considerable distance up the
river estuary. The porpoise appeared to be a large adult who was
lying at a slight angle with her blowhole partially submerged, no
other injuries were evident at this time and the decision was made
to right the porpoise to assist breathing. Alan (SSPCA officer)
then remained with her whilst Kenneth made his way back to the car
to retrieve further equipment. Shortly after arriving back at the
vehicle, Vet Cameron from the CRRU arrived as did Andrew and Fraserburgh
volunteer Andrew Cordinder. All members of the rescue team headed
to the porpoise’s location with the rescue kit that was required.
On arrival back at the stranding site an inflatable mattress was
assembled and the porpoise was removed from the estuary and located
on the mattress for further examination. Water was applied to keep
the body moist and a windbreak was setup to protect the animal from
the wind as visible signs of hypothermia were evident. It was found
to be an adult female, approx 1.7m long, and estimated weight of
approx 60kg. Respiration rate remained at 4-5 per min throughout,
with normal depth. Kenneth went back to the vehicle to collect the
dolphin pontoons so as to perform a refloatation whilst an attempt
to re-hydrate and pass a stomach tube was made, but before a tube
could be passed a large amount of fluid was regurgitated, having
the appearance of bloody gastric fluid and an individual worm was
also brought up. On the basis of the reduced body weight, hypothermia
and possible gastric bleeding, a decision was made to euthanase
as a reflotation may only cause the animal more pain and suffering.
Once passed away, she was carried back to the vehicles for transportation
to SAC in Inverness the following day for a full post-mortem.
Many thanks to the vigilant members
of public, SSPCA officers, Vet Cameron – CRRU, Aberdeenshire
Co-ordinator Kenneth McLennan, Assistant Co-ordinator Andrew Ireland,
Volunteer Andrew Cordiner, BDMLR Montrose (Elaine and team for being
on standby), and to Nick for forwarding the call.
Apologies to Elaine Roft and James Barnett
as Kenneth was unable to keep you updated on the situation due to
poor mobile phone reception.
Andrew
Ireland
BDMLR Marine Mammal Medic
Fraserburgh Asst. Co-ordinator
Seal
rescued from river - Lincolnshire
5th February
Date of Rescue: 5th February 2005
Seal Type: Common
Sex: Male
Age: 1 Year Appox
Tag Colour: Orange RSPCA East Winch
Tag Number: 61458
On the 5th February 2005, myself and five other
medics who where Jamie Kyme, Dave Underwood, Graham Dunn, Simon
& Sarah Clarke were successful in catching a common seal. The
seal was in the River Witham, in Lincolnshire.
We managed to Trap the seal in a side river next to Tattershall
bridge, netted off the escape route and then deployed the large
catch net. With great success we had caught the seal within one
hour.
After an overnight stay in my seal pen, at home
in Lincoln. It was then back to the Wash for an early morning seal
release.
By 8.30am on Sunday morning the seal was back with
the other seals on Seal Sands in the Wash.
Thanks to all involved.
James
Brett - Lincolnshire Coordinator
Pics
by James Brett - click images for larger size |
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Whale
freed from mooring line and buoy - Wales
3rd February
RSPCA Inspector
Phil Lewis (BDMLR West Wales Coordinator) has given us the great
news that the whale spotted trailing line off the Welsh coast near
Llandudno has been freed of most of the line.
RSPCA Animal Collection Officer, Mark Roberts, was
taken out on the Llandudno lifeboat and under spotlights was able
to approach the whale, possibly a Minke whale. The whale was unable
to dive but was swimming quite strongly.
Mark, with assistance from the Lifeboat crew and
under direction from Phil Lewis over the phone, was able to cut
a large section of rope and the buoy from around the pectoral fin
and tail of the animal. Only a short (1m) section was left as the
whale swam away and dived once the gear had been removed.
A tremendous effort by all involved and we can only
hope that the animal is able to survive this ordeal.
Tony
Woodley - BDMLR OnLine
Info supplied
by Phil Lewis and Sue White (BDMLR HQ)
[ related Press
item - click HERE
]
Rare
turtle update, Cornwall.
4th February
Following on from the turtle rescued
by Cornish Medics earlier this week, we have been in touch with
the Blue Reef Aquarium to get updates on its condition.
3rd February: The turtle was noticed
to have an infection, due to the pinkish colour of its underside.
It was also re-identified as a Kemp’s Ridley after closer
examination, not a Loggerhead turtle.
4th February: I’ve just got off
the phone with the Aquarium. Sadly, the turtle has not survived.
The body has been sent for a Post Mortem.
Medic
Dan Jarvis
BDMLR West Cornwall
(Newquay – Land’s End – St Austell)
