Busy
few days for UK Medics
Thursday 27 Jan
17.00hrs Seal found on beach at Happisburgh in Norfolk,
did not look injured. Checked by Alan David with search light –no
sign of seal
Friday 28 Jan
07.45 Seal on beach at Seaburn, Sunderland, being
harassed by dogs – Checked by Graeme Richardson – looked
in good condition, Graeme left scene for short while and returned
to find the seal gone – Ron Carroll also attended –
After speaking to the local fishermen we found out that one of them
had chased it back into the sea. Article in local paper tonight.
10.00 Seal pup 2ft long found on Riverbank in Easington,
Hull. Approx 10-12ft above the beach as tide was going out. An older
seal was spotted in the Water but disappeared. Checked out by Barry
Egdell, pup looked in very good condition. There are concerns about
where the pup is situated
As on a public path alongside the river. Neil Wray
has kept an eye on the pup and we are hoping it will go back on
tide at approx 19.00hrs.
10.30 Guillemot found in Newquay, Cornwall covered
in oil – Dave Jarvis informed.
Its been a busy day. Have a good weekend
Sue
White - BDMLR HQ
Two
call-outs for Montrose team within an hour of each other
28th January
The first, was to a fully
weaned Grey seal pup at Johnshaven named "Ebony". Medic
Rebecca Chambers along with volunteers Sue Horne and Jim Wilkins
examined the pup thoroughly. Respiration was normal, body weight
and colour were good and the pup was bright active and alert. Initial
concerns were that this pup had an injury to the fore flipper which
proved negative when Rebecca carried out a routine health check.
As the pup was in a very public place it was uplifted and relocated
to a quieter area of the beach after Rebecca consulted with Montrose
Area Co-ordinator Elaine Roft. Upon its release it immediately took
to the water.
Thanks to Fraserburgh Assistant Co-ordinator Andy Ireland for being
on standby should a relay have been required, Laurence Brain for
provision of a seal pen, BDMLR Montrose Medics and Volunteers Rebecca
Chambers, Sue Horne & Jim Wilkins.
The second pup was reported to Elaine
Roft by local resident Pam Fraser. This pup was observed swimming
in the reeds at the river estuary at Lunan Bay apparently appearing
to be in distress or possibly caught up in something. Montrose Deputy
Co-ordinator Bob Pert responded to the call and reported back that
there was something in the water, possibly a seal pup, possibly
an otter but this was hard to determine due to the fading light.
With Bob having only a head lamp for light and guiding him, and
an incoming tide to deal with the search was aborted for the evening.
Bob will resume a patrol of the reeds at first light tomorrow.
Thanks to Pam Fraser for alerting us, and BDMLR Montrose Deputy
Co-ordinator Bob Pert for responding to the call.
Pictures to follow
Elaine
Roft
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
Montrose Area Co-ordinator (Inverbervie-Easthaven)
Injured
seal rescued from Saltburn-by Sea, Yorkshire
26th
January
At
17.30 BDMLR HQ received a call from Glen at Gweek Seal Sanctuary
(Cornwall), a member of the public had called him to say there was
a seal pup partly white coated on the beach, it looked in fairly
good condition but was able to stand next to it and it was sneezing.
When Sarah Barry attended (she
has been a medic since 2001 and had not until last night been called
out) arrived at scene there were two seals, the original pup and
an older seal with a black coat also sneezing. Whilst Graeme Richardson
(area coordinator) was enroute, Sarah called James Barnett our vet
for advice. Simon and Bev Drayton from Scarborough were also enroute
after finishing work.
It turned out that the younger
of the pups went back into the water but the young adult had lacerations
and a deep wound around its neck (this may have been caused by fishing
nets). Whilst BDMLR were at the scene an RSPCA inspector turned
up. Simon had called Scarborough Sealife Centre who was able to
take this seal in for care, so Simon, Bev and Graeme uplifted the
injured seal to them.
Well done James (member of the
public) who found the seals and looked after them until we arrived
and to all those involved for a fantastic team effort.
Sue
White - BDMLR HQ
Medics
rescue grey seal pup from West Cornwall beach.
26th January
Coordinator
Dave Jarvis received a call from Sue White at BDMLR Head Office
at about midday today (26th), reporting that a seal pup had been
spotted by members of the public at Lushington Cove, Porthtowan.
As Dave was in Plymouth at the time, he passed on the details to
me. I immediately contacted Coordinator Tim Bain and informed him
of the situation, then called the National Seal Sanctuary, who had
already spoken to Dave and agreed that Tim and I should go out to
have a look. I then set out to pick up Tim and the cage from St
Ives, before heading out to Porthtowan.
Lushington Cove is a beach to the left of Porthtowan,
and is only accessible at low tide. Once we arrived, we met the
people that called Head Office, who took us there. The pup was at
the far end of the cove, high up on the beach near the strandline.
Leaving the cage and people on the sandy bit of the beach, Tim and
I carried on up to the pup to assess its condition, noting that
it had left a trail all the way up from the tide mark. Before we
got there it was obvious that the pup was severely malnourished,
and was very quiet, although was looking around. It also had small
spots of oil on its underside and was very dehydrated. Apart from
this, it had a minor fresh graze on its right rear flipper, most
likely from its journey up the beach across the rocks. After informing
the Sanctuary of its condition, we fetched the cage and brought
it up to the pup. Tim caught it and put it in the cage, and between
the two of us carried it back down the beach across on to Porthtowan
beach and then back up to the car park (swapping sides frequently!).
Once there, we let the pup (and our arms!) have a rest, which generated
interest from nearby beach users. After this, we loaded the pup
into the car and went on our way.
Arriving at the Sanctuary, we were met by Animal
Care Assistants Marianne Fellows and Claire Baker, who weighed the
pup at 16kg and took it into an Isolation pen to recover form the
trip before its clinical assessment and tube feeding. Marianne and
Claire performed the clinical assessment, finding that, oddly, the
pup’s rear flippers we covered in lots of small lumps. Besides
this, the pup’s breathing was still very quiet and shallow,
and creamy yellow phlegm came back up after being tube fed. Its
faeces were also a similar colour.
The male pup, now named Wiske, has been aged at
around 14 weeks and is being well looked after by the Animal Care
Team.
Medic Dan Jarvis
BDMLR West Cornwall
(Newquay – Land’s End – St Austell)
Seal
rescued from Gwithian, Cornwall.
23rd January
Following a
call from a member of the public this morning about a grey seal
pup on Gwithian beach, near Hayle, the National Seal Sanctuary contacted
West Cornwall Coordinator Dave Jarvis and requested that he go to
the beach to assess the pup.
Dave and Medic Lesley Jarvis immediately went to
the site and quickly found the pup high up on the beach near the
high tide mark, basking in the sun. No injuries could be seen, but
it was obviously underweight and dehydrated, and it was also low
tide, so the pup was a long way from the sea. After giving these
details to Senior Animal Care Assistant Tamara Cooper, she decided
to go out with regular volunteer Yvie Oxley.
Once they arrived,
Tamara jumped the pup and gave it a thorough check, finding some
puncture wounds on the rear flippers. The temperature was also taken,
which was a bit high, and so it was decided that the pup should
be brought back to the Sanctuary. Before putting the seal in the
cage, it was tube fed fluids to rehydrate it. Once it was safely
in the cage, the pup was taken back to the car park in relays and
then transported back to the Sanctuary for rehabilitation.
This was the second seal to arrive at the Sanctuary
this weekend, the first being rescued by Tamara, ACT member Marianne
Fellows and myself from Porth Chapel, near Land’s End during
the afternoon of the 22nd. It was underweight, had several cuts
and punctures to its flippers and also had a small patch of oil
on its back. There have now been almost 40 pups rescued and taken
to the National Seal Sanctuary this rescue season, including a couple
with pox, one with a broken shoulder and another with a severe eye
problem. This has been keeping the Animal Care Team hard at work
over winter, and fortunately we are coming towards the end of the
rescue season, when they can all have a well-earned rest! In the
meantime, the first three seals were released back into the wild
recently, with more to follow.
Medic
Dan Jarvis
BDMLR West Cornwall
(Newquay – Land’s End – St Austell)
Grey
pup rescued - Mersea Island, Essex
21st
January
I
was called to a grey pup on Wednesday (19th) on Mersea Island on
arrival found a large pup still in full white coat estimated at
25k with nothing wrong. I stayed in the area for the rest of the
day and saw no sign of mum and that was cause for concern. Pup was
on a reserve so got wardens to keep a watch on it Thursday, still
no sign of an adult. Tony Haggis and I went back this morning. Pup
was still in same place it had been and seemed more lethargic. Phoned
James (Barnett), Kieran (Copeland) and Faye (Archell) for their
thoughts and advice, also word had spread and people were starting
to come to see it. I had a word with warden and he said the reserve
gets busy at weekends and with this possible disturbance and still
no sign of an adult I decided to take up to Kieran (Hunstanton SeaLife
Centre). This we did, pup travelled well, we weighed it on arrival
32k. Kieran said they will get it to feed and release as soon as
he is happy with its progress.
Leon
Woodrow - Medic (Essex)
Seal
rescued from… underneath decking, St Ives, Cornwall.
15th January
During the morning of the 15th, a call
came through to the National Seal Sanctuary about a seal on Porthminster
beach, St Ives, a well-used public beach. The Sanctuary contacted
West Cornwall Coordinator Tim Bain and asked him to assess the pup’s
condition. Tim in turn contacted fellow Coordinator Dave Jarvis
for help in case an uplift was necessary before making his way down
to the beach.
Dave arrived a short while later with
Medics Lesley and Phil Jarvis, by which time Tim had found the pup
hiding under some decking at the top of the beach. They were then
faced with a problem on how to get the seal out so that it could
be more carefully assessed. While deciding on whether to send one
of the Medics under to flush it out or to use a wooden plank to
try and encourage it out, the seal solved the deliberation by emerging
from its cover to find out what was going on. It was immediately
obvious that it was underweight, and that one of its rear flippers
appeared to be injured. Discussing the pup’s condition with
the Sanctuary, a decision to uplift was made, and the pup was duly
caught and put in the cage. Tim and Phil volunteered to transport
the pup.
Once they had arrived, the pup was weighed
and transferred to an Isolation pen. When it had recovered from
its journey, Dr Glenn Boyle, Head of the Animal Care Team and ACT
member Claire Baker performed the clinical assessment, finding that
other than having a swollen, possibly infected, rear flipper, the
male seal was free of any other injuries. He is now being rehabilitated
along with the other 35 pups currently at the Sanctuary, the first
of which were recently released back into the wild.
Medic
Dan Jarvis
BDMLR West Cornwall
(Newquay – Land’s End – St Austell)
Common
seal pup rescue - Torry, Aberdeen
12th
January
4.10pm
Jan Bevington of Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary in Shetland called
Montrose Area Co-ordinator Elaine Roft to say that she had received
a call about a seal pup at Nigg Bay in the Torry district of Aberdeen.
The pup was battered and bruised and bleeding from its flipper from
last nights gale force winds. A local animal charity had been notified
and the caller was advised to leave the pup as it would return to
the sea, despite being told of its apparent injuries.
4.15pm Elaine made contact with Lisa Clark, the
lady who had found the pup and sat with it for 4 hours on the beach
and ensured her that BDMLR Medics would asses the pup and if need
be take it to nearby rehab facilities. Elaine was unable to establish
contact with the BDMLR Aberdeen Co-ordinator Nick Duthie,therefore
Fraserburgh Medic Andy Ireland was contacted who agreed to respond
to the call. Andy spoke with Lisa to get the exact location of the
pup whilst Elaine booked a seal pen with Laurence Brain at New Deer.
6.20pm Andy ireland had arrived on scene and confirmed
to Elaine that the seal was a common pup, perhaps a little underweight,
but otherwise active and alert. The extent of any injuries could
not be determined as it was dark. It was decided to uplift the seal
anyway so that Laurence could do a general examination, and if need
be, release it the next day if it was sound.
7pm Nick Duthie responded to the voicemail left
by Elaine and he was updated on the situation and thanked us for
covering as he was unable to attend. He also wondered if the seal
was perhaps the same one that he had observed at the Victoria Bridge
a few weeks ago, that hadn't been seen since.
8.20pm The seal pup had arrived at Laurence's premises
and he confirmed that it was a common seal approx 12 weeks of age.
The source of the bleeding had not been determined on its arrival.
An update on this seal named "Lisa" will
follow on 14.01.05
Thanks to Lisa Clark, Jan Bevington (Hillswick Wildlife
Sanctuary), Montrose Co-ordinator Elaine Roft, Fraserburgh Deputy
Co-ordinator Andy Ireland, Fraserburgh Medic Jane Davies and Laurence
Brain.
Elaine
Roft
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
Montrose Area Co-ordinator (Inverbervie-Easthaven)
Picture Credits
- Andy Ireland BDMLR ( click images for larger size ) |
|
|
St
Cyrus North Sands Pup - Update
11th January
Medics
Elaine Roft & Sue Horne arrived at the beach at 8am walking
the 1 1/2 miles to where the pup was left the night before. The
pup 
hadn't
moved from its spot over a 20 hr period and was lying on its back
rolling from side to side arching the flippers. Although most of
its time was spent with this behaviour, he did roll on to his front
occasionally.The perinium was stained with diarrhoea as was the
right ear. Laurence Brain was updated from the day before saying
he wanted the pup in to treat the eye and any gastro intestinal
problems it may have. Volunteers Paul Horne and Jim Wilkins arrived
on scene at 10am and the pup was herded into the transportation
tank. SNH St Cyrus reserve Manager Andy Turner then uplifted the
pup in the tank in his 4x4 to the visitor Centre to save the medics
the long walk back. The seal was then taken to Ferryden and left
to rest in the tank until 4pm before relay could resume to New Deer
due to unavailability of Medics. After consulting with BDMLR vet
James Barnett, the lid from the tank was removed and replaced with
a gate with open slats to allow ventilation (kindly supplied by
local men Sandy and Willie Nicoll). Ian Falconer provided his house
and coffee for Elaine from 12 - 3.30pm to save her a wasted journey
back home. Elaine kept the pup dampened and respiration was monitored
at half hourly intervals with it remaining at a steady 12 bpm. CRRU
/ BDMLR vet Cameron McPherson called Elaine at regular intervals
to get updates on the pups general well being. During its period
of rest, "Oscar" vomited up 2 worms and a long piece of
maram grass but was otherwise alert and VERY active, sleeping inbetween
his boisterous spells. Relay to Aberdeen commenced at 3.30pm by
Elaine Roft and Rebecca Chambers, and the second leg of the relay
was taken over by Fraserburgh medic Jane Davies at 5pm with the
pup reaching New Deer at 5.45pm. Elaine and Rebecca finally arrived
home at 7pm after battling through gale force winds and powercuts.
Many thanks to Andy Turner (SNH Manager),
Ian Falconer, Sandy Nicoll, Willie Nicoll (Ferryden Residents),
CRRU / BDMLR vet Cameron McPherson / BDMLR vet James Barnett, Montrose
team Elaine Roft, Sue Horne, Paul Horne, Jim Wilkins, Rebecca Chambers,
Fraserburgh team, Kenneth McLennan, Andy Ireland, Jane Davies and
Laurence Brain of Grampian Wildlife Trust.
Elaine
Roft
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
Montrose Area Co-ordinator (Inverbervie-Easthaven)
Seal
Pup Call-out for Montrose Team
10th January
A local dog walker called SNH St Cyrus Reserve Manager Andy Turner,
who in turn contacted Montrose volunteer Paul Horne notifying him
of a seal pup apparently in 
distress
On The St Cyrus North sands. Area Co-ordinator Elaine Roft arrived
on scene at 16.00 hrs to join volunteers Sue and Paul Horne and
Jim Wilkins who had continued observations on the pups condition.
Meanwhile a seal pen was provisionally booked at Laurence Brains
rehab facilities at New Deer and Fraserburgh Deputy Co-ordinator
Andy Ireland placed on standby for a possible relay. The fully weaned
grey pup named "Oscar" was of good body weight and good
body condition, it was bright active and alert and had good colouring
to the mouth and gums. Respiration fluctuated from 17bpm which was
stress induced by the amount of activity finally settling at 12bpm.
Although the eyes were bright, open and rounded, the team were concerned
with the right eye which appeared to have what looked like a mild
entropian on the lower eyelid with the skin being a deep purlpe
colour. Local vets Robson & Partners and Laurence Brain both
confirmed that it could be severe bruising caused by the rough seas
and debris washed up which may have battered the pup or the onset
of conjunctivitis or any other eye related injury. Both vets were
of the opinion that the pup should be left in its location for the
evening to rest and if it was still there in the morning uplifted
and taken in for treatment - even though its body condition and
weight were good. Elaine, Sue and Jim will see if the pup is in
the same location tomorrow (11th) and if so uplift it and take it
to Laurence via pup relay with Andy Ireland.
Thanks to The local dog walker, Gary and Wendy of
"Woodston bothy", SNH Reserve Manager Andy Turner, Local
vets Robson & Partners, Laurence Brain, and Fraserburgh Deputy
Co-ordinator Andy Ireland.
Elaine
Roft
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
Montrose Area Co-ordinator (Inverbervie-Easthaven)
MESSAGE
FROM BDMLR Directors
I'm sure all of you will be aware of the efficient internet communication
system BDMLR now has. Indeed, compliments have come from many organisations
in many countries.
These compliments are well earned and deserved. But, that should
be directed to one person in particular who has made the whole thing
professional and effective. That person is Tony Woodley (helped
by Scott Bartlett of BTA). Tony has had to teach himself all manner
of computer skills. I'm sure Tony will be the first to admit he
is no computer teckkie, but he has taken the trouble to find out!
Tony has also been working very hard behind the scenes, on fundraising
ideas and, of course has been training on the Medic courses etc.
The directors of BDMLR continue to be impressed by Tony's commitment
to BDMLR and at the last Director's meeting, just before Christmas,
voted to ask Tony to become a Director and Trustee of BDMLR.
I'm very pleased to report Tony has accepted and, once some boring
paperwork is completed he will become a full Director and Trustee.
I'm sure you will join me in congratulating Tony and thanking him
for his efforts in the past. There is still a lot of work, to be
done to make BDMLR even more effective and I know Tony will continue
to work hard with all of us to make it so.
Best wishes to all for the New Year
Mark Stevens
Director BDMLR
on behalf of the Directors of BDMLR
The
smaller dolphin wasn't seen during the rescue Wednesday, said Wiek,
who planned to the lagoon Thursday.