Seal
pup call-out, Primrose Valley, North Yorkshire
Friday 27th July 2007
Got
a call from Sue White at HQ just before 3:50pm a report of a small
seal looking ill on the beach at Primrose valley. Reported in by
a lady called Kay.
The weather was kind, it was warm and dry with a breeze blowing
from the north west and the sea was calm, tide had just topped out
and was ebbing.
On arrival Ispoke to some people just at the bottom of the cliff
steps to find out if anyone had seen anything, and was told that
some kids had been prodding a small seal and were asked to leave
it alone by a guy who then did his best to put it back in the water.
After some effort he had managed to get it to go back into the sea,
and it was seen swimming south towards Hunmanby gap.
So I set off to walk down to the gap, I had walked for about 500
yards when a woman called Helen approached me and asked if Iwas
looking for 
a
seal, I told her I was and she said that her and another woman had
been baby sitting it.
When I walked to where the other woman was sitting I could hardly
believe it, there in the middle of these two women, a black Labrador
dog and a small person in a pushchair was my baby common seal pup.
Asleep!
Helen told me they had been guarding it from other people because
it was getting a lot of attention and it didn't look well.
I have to say a very big thank you to Helen and her friend for doing
what seemed right to them at the time, but my big concern now was
had the pup's mum been trying to find it and had she been scared
off,
I did a scan of the water and spotted her almost straight away,
I then explained to the two women that we should move away and told
them why. We moved back to a safe distance and I had a look through
binoculars to find mum again, by now she was swimming north back
towards where the pup had come from some time before, the two ladies
went off but not before giving me a contact number so I could let
them know how things turned out.
I sat with the pup in view for about three and a half hours all
told, I contacted HQ to let them know what was going on and in the
mean time another report had come in from someone to HQ to say a
seal was on the beach near Hunmanby gap (that'll be me then) same
seal I was thinking and as far as I could tell it was, people were
coming by and I asked them if they had seen anything, all with negative
results, so that was good news.
As people passed I asked them to keep a good distance away from
the pup who seemed to sleep through it all, one family consisting
of dad, an older daughter and a delightful little girl (who I promised
I would give a mention to in my report) called REBECCA MORRIS (there
I told you I would) came past and wanted to know all about it and
what was going to happen to it.
They had been to Sealife the day before and knew to keep away and
not disturb it.
When the people had gone, I saw the mother who had come up onto
the beach way north of me and was getting some unwanted attention
from people on the beach to the point where she made a dash for
the water.
I rang Bev for advice as to what to do as the pup had by now woken
up and was looking to go back into the sea, but the tide had gone
down and left it with a long haul for such a little seal.
From setting off to getting back into the water it took over an
hour, it would go so far and then stop for a little rest it looked
to go back to sleep at least twice. The problem is that when it
stopped the tide kept going out and the distance grew again.
By the time it made it back into the water there had been no sign
of mum for over an hour, there were no visible injuries to the pup
and once in the water seemed to swim strongly, I stayed with it
for as long as it stayed in view and then for a while after to make
sure it had not come out further along.
After no sighting for about 30 mins I phoned Bev to report in and
she said she was on her way to Cobble landing to bring me her seal
bag and kennel just in case it was needed while they were up in
Sunderland for the weekend.
I got back to Cobble landing and showed them the photos and had
a coffee and a natter about the following weekend and our stand
at the lifeboat day.
Bev had asked me and Vicky if we would do a follow up visit the
next day and we of course said yes.
Then back home to see if my wife and dog still knew who I was.
Re Follow up visit
The follow up visit has taken place today 28th July 2007.
Both Vicky and myself have made a visit to the area where the pup
was yesterday and along the beach in general and I'm happy to report
no sightings were made of any seals, which is just as well because
the beaches were busy today.
We also had a walk out onto the Brigg to put up a new Stranding
poster and also check the emergency phone while we were there.
Many
thanks to the members of the public who reported this seal.
Bruce
Pawson
Filey MMM
BDMLR
Comment re Northern Bottlenose Whale in River Orwell, Suffolk
28th
July 2007
When
very large cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) enter river
courses it presents the rescue agencies with major logistical problems.
It is not possible to 'grab' a free-swimming whale, as this will
cause enormous stress to the animal and is also exceptionally dangerous
to the rescuers as these animals are large and powerful.
Concerning the Northern Bottlenose Whale near Ipswich, the animal
became stuck on a sandbar in the river between 8.00pm and 8.45pm
on the evening of the 27th July. A whale rescue pontoon was on its
way to the location but had not arrived at this point. However,
and unusually, there was an extra Health & Safety concern. The
whale had stranded directly in the flow of a sewage outflow and
it was not possible for rescuers to enter the water at this point
due to the contaminated water.
The whale refloated on the incoming tide, was then monitored overnight,
stranded again at approx 2.00am and was euthanased on humane grounds,
at 6.30am.
There is a great deal of data now available on the effects of stranding
on these large species of whale. Much of this has been learnt from
the 'Thames whale' (the same species) as well as previous and later
strandings of large 'toothed whales' on the east coast of the UK.
BDMLR has a large cetacean triage which has been developed directly
from this new data and in consultation with a wide network of vastly
experienced vets and pathologists. This animal was doomed from the
time it entered the river system. It will not have fed since entering
the North Sea as this species feeds upon deep ocean squid and the
North Sea does not contain this food source. As cetaceans gain their
water from their food, the animal would have been dehydrated and
weakened as a result. These large species also deteriorate very
quickly when not supported by water, causing massive and irreversible
damage to the muscles which give off toxins which then, in turn,
damage the kidneys and subsequently cause renal failure.
Simply pushing the animal into the North Sea would only lengthen
the animal’s period of suffering and it extremely likely it
would have restranded again. The whale was a young adult, maternally
independent.
Rest assured, that BDMLR acts in the welfare of the animals it rescues
at all times. Greatly experienced vets and rescuers liase on each
incident and decide upon the best course of action for each animal
and taking into account the often very challenging logistical circumstances
which are often presented.
British
Divers Marine Life Rescue
BBC News Report : HERE
Latest
arrival at BDMLR Seal Pup Unit
19th July
Gina
arrived on the evening of the 12th from Tain. Gina was spotted on
the beach by members of the public looking very thin and very inactive.
She was picked up during the afternoon by Andy Brown from Inverness
SSPCA and transported to Conan Vet surgery. Luckily Beatrice from
the Wildlife Hospital where our unit is located, was at the vet
with one of her own patients, brought the pup back with her. On
assessment the pup was found to be very dehydrated, very very thin
as well as being very stressed. The stress was thought to have been
caused by having people and dogs around her most of the day.
Gina,
obviously is female and we estimate her age to be around a week
old. After administering fluids for overnight she was then started
on her milk feeds on schedule with the other pups. Her weight on
arrival was 7.5kg and you could see when she was lying on her back,
where her ribs stopped and then just loose skin flattened on the
floor where her stomach was very empty and then her pelvis.
Happily
when weighed on Monday she was already up to 8.4kg and looking more
alert and a bit more active, still nervous and snappy though. She
is progressing well and looking a bit more rounded!
Jamie Dyer
BDMLR Seal Unit Manager/NW Highland Coordinator
Ps. I forgot to mention that on Monday evening and
Tuesday I had Richard from Thurso come down to help out. He is a
help as he has been before he had a go at tube feeding Lilly and
also force feeding Seoras his fish. Yesterday I was also joined
by new medic Kirsty Sharrat from Inverness, a new medic who works
for WDCS at the dolphin and seal information centre at Kessock.
Helped out with cleaning etc, and ran through a lot of the biology
and rehab with her.
Both were a big help. Long days for both but they
seemed to enjoy being here and said that they learnt a lot.
My thanks to them both very much. Jamie
Safety
First….
15th July
Four
Caithness BDMLR Marine Mammal Medics joined Assynt Mountain Rescue
Team for a morning of training at Latheronwheel on Sunday. Members
of the team where shown how to set up a fixed rope, use a climbing
harness, a descender, and climb a steep slope with a load. All of
this with safety in mind, the BDMLR medics often have to perform
rescues of seals during the winter months, when the weather is poor
and the ground under foot becomes wet and slippy, add to this a
25kg seal and a 7kg transportation kennel and the task becomes quite
dangerous. With the new skills they have learned they will now be
able to access a situation and set up a safety rope plus pulley
system to help with the load.
It
was a great morning out and thanks goes out to Jim Sudd and all
the members of the Assynt Mountain Rescue Team who together made
the morning a success.
Richard Bradley
- Caithness Assistant Coordinator
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Seal
Call Out Hunmanby Gap, Yorkshire
4th July 2007
Received
a call from Bev Drayton at 2:15pm about a seal said to have been sneezing
and to have a snotty nose.
The seal had been reported by Mr Kay an off duty police officer from
leeds out on a walk with
his wife, on arriving down at the beach I met Mr Kay and his wife,
they were pleased to have helped and my thanks go to them for their
co-operation and understanding, if only all people could be as helpful
it would make our job so much easier.
Anyway the call had been around the houses via RSPCA and SEALIFE and
then on to Bev so i think a sort of chinese whisper had taken place,
i was expecting to find a poorly seal and found, what looked to be,
a very fat, healthy seal, apart from a slight graze on it's front
right flip (as i found later when under observation).
After
trying to get the people around it to move back, i was able to start
the observations, however, trying to count BPM with a seal being covered
in water every few seconds was not going to happen, but it had the
advantage that it rolled the seal over letting me see all sides.
It looked like a pup, a metre plus long, and a grey.
It was
taking a break by the look of things, after it had relaxed for a bit
it was stretching, scratching, and yawning, and generally chilling
out.
I stayed back and watched for about 20 mins then it decided to go
back into the water, it swam south towards Bempton about 20 or 30
metres offshore so i followed along behind thinking it may haul out
again further down.
After swimming about 300 or 400 metres it then came to a sand bank
and had to haul itself over the top through the breakers and then
disappeared into deeper water and was gone.
I rang
Bev to give her the details, and then headed for home.
I reported to Bev when Iwas home and rang Mr Kay to let him know that
the seal was ok and had swam off, he was very pleased that i had taken
the time to ring and let him know the outcome.
Bruce
Pawson
MMM Filey
BRAEBURN
SCHOOL TALK
28th June 2007
Bev Drayton
and myself arrived at the school at 12:45pm and checked in at reception,
with our visitor badges pinned on we headed for one of the classrooms
to setup the gear ready for the talk. With this being my first time
at one of Bev's school talks I had no idea of what was to come or what
I was supposed to be doing.
But as ever Bev was
totally sorted and knew what to do, we set on with the tasks of inflating
the dolphin and the seal (although we did manage to have the pump
on suck instead of blow and made the dolphin even thinner than it
was before we started). And getting any air to stay in the seal after
pulling out the hose and before getting the bung in place is a tricky
job, but we did get it to look like it had been run over in the end.
(only joking).
Bev then set up her
power point and went for full screen mode, while I emptied the contents
of my medic bag out onto one of the tables, like a proper display
thingy, ooh get me.
Any way down to the
important stuff.
The two classes were
students aged 10 & 11 all year 6 pupils, and those who must be
obeyed (the teachers) Mrs Sheppherd and Mrs Humble who we must say
a very big thank you for letting us do the talk.
The talk was all part
of the students project on marine life and will involve a visit to
the sea life centre on monday 2nd July.
I was given charge of
the computer slide show and Bev was out front doing the presentation,
I am not sure how she keeps them enthralled for more than an hour
but believe me enthralled they all were, all 50 of them. She had them
in the palm of her hand all the time, it was an experience I will
not forget in a hurry.
I was so concerned that
I might blow it that at first I was not really listening to the words
I was just waiting for the signal to show the next slide. Then without
me noticing at first, Bev started to mention things that we had taken
a part in and I started to feel more at ease with the whole thing.
It was like I suddenly felt like I was back in my own depth and could
talk (if needed) about them as experiences I've had.
Bev made it very easy
to for me to join in and I tried to get across the feelings you get
when your one of only a few people who other people (the public) look
to when there is a situation to deal with.
The students were keen
to ask questions and listened intently to the answers, I got the feeling
that a lot of this information was really going in, and that there
were going to be a lot more hits on the BDMLR web site as a result.
We told them about the
bigger rescue attempts made, like the Thames whale and the whale at
Maryport along with the video and photos, but also, the small rescue
attempts made at places like Hunmanby gap because these are places
the kids are likely to go and could relate to them better, and also
you can see them going home and telling mum and dad all about it,
after all it's right on their door step.
We went through a demo
of how we jump a seal, and there was a sharp intake of breath as I
came down on top of our seal model, Bev had to explain that I was
not trying to strangle the seal, just trying to hold it firmly enough
so neither the seal or myself got injured.
Bev then explained how
we go through the checking of the seal and what would happen next
if the seal required further treatment.
We covered the stranding
of cetaceans and how we try to keep the stress of the animals as low
as possible while keeping them wet and protected from the elements.
We ended the talk with
a question and answer session, and believe me these young people had
a whole lot of questions they wanted to ask, and the questions showed
they had been paying attention to the talk,
One question had Bev
thinking very hard for a while, it was "what has been the worst
thing that has happened to you when on a rescue."
Bev's reply was how
upset she had been when coordinating the stranding of a small group
of porpoises at Spurn point and having to wait for the water level
to drop enough for the medics to be able to get to the poor animals,
and being a couple of them died in the meantime.
I have to say that overall
the day was well worth the time off work, and would be happy to do
others in the future, (work permitting) and to anyone who might be
thinking about maybe trying it, I’d say GO ON, DO IT you will
not regret it one bit.
It gives you a great
sense of achievement knowing your helping others to better understand
what's out there and what to do if they need your help.
Once again, we would
like to thank the school for giving us this opportunity, along with
Mrs Sheppherd and Mrs Humble, and a special thanks to the students,
and good luck with your marine project.
And who knows, there
may be one or two future medics out there somewhere.
Bev Drayton
(my 'boss') & Bruce Pawson (Filey medic)
