White
Beaked dolphin strands in Scotland
27th May
A member of the public had come
across a "live" stranded cetacean on the West Sands at
St Andrews in Fife, Scotland at 20.00hrs and immediately notified
the local SSPCA who in turn contacted Mark Stevens of B.D.M.L.R.
Mark contacted Montrose Area Co-ordinator Elaine Roft who was able
to make contact with SSPCA Inspector Steven Gray who had by this
time arrived on scene.
Communications were difficult and hard to understand due to high
winds and poor signal cutting the phones off but Elaine managed
to hear that the cetacean was still alive and that the species had
not been determined at this stage.
Montrose Medics comprising of Elaine Roft and Bob Pert, and Dundee
Medic Gareth Norman made their way to the West Sands at St Andrews
with the rescue equipment arriving at 22.30hrs.
By the time they had arrived on scene the cetacean had been pronounced
dead by Inspector Gray who had done his best working alone at keeping
the animal comfortable. After the possibility of a deep dive reflex
had been ruled out, the team then set about to log necessary criteria.
The cetacean which had been identified as a female white beaked
dolphin measured 8ft 5ins in length and had good body weight and
a good girth, although the tail stock appeared to be a little thin.
There were several old healed lesions to the right side of the body,
and a few rake marks to the left side which had not penetrated the
skin. The tail flukes had abrasions and a raggedness round the edges,
but all were superficial. The carcass was then towed from the strandline
to the roadside at 01.20hrs where it was bagged and secured for
uplift by The Scottish Agricultural College in Inverness for post
mortem.
A huge thank you to SSPCA Inspector Steven Gray for his endurance
and efforts working alone until the team arrived on scene, Montrose
Medics Elaine Roft, Bob Pert, Dundee Medic Gareth Norman, and Dundee
Medic Bruce McLeish (who was on standby to assist if the cetacean
had lived)
Full strandings details and post mortem results will be forwarded
to B.D.M.L.R. Director and Veterinary Surgeon James Barnett.
Elaine
Roft
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
Montrose Area Co-ordinator (Inverbervie-Easthaven)
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30/05/05
Bob Reid from The Scottish Agricultural College In Inverness called
Montrose Area Co-ordinator Elaine Roft today with his findings so
far. The cetacean was of good body weight and Girth and was in good
health. It was noted that there were a few small cysts to the back
of the throat, the lymph glands were slightly enlarged as were the
salivary glands and the liver showed evidence of a few parasites.
Neither of these symtoms were detrimental to the cetaceans death.
With the cetacean being found on the strandline and on an Ebb tide
at 18.00 hrs, the call to the team was not received until 21.00hrs
when a member of the public finally reported it. Cause of death
to date has therefore gone down as post stranding trauma. Samples
have been taken for histopathology and full post mortem details
will be available in due course. SSPCA Senior Inspector Steven Gray
who kept the cetacean comfortable until BDMLR Medics arrived on
scene has since been updated.
BDMLR
volunteers skydiving for charity
Six volunteers are going to take part in a
10,000ft tandem skydive on the 29th May at RAF Bicester near Oxford.
We are going to fling ourselves out of an airplane to raise as much
money as possible for the South West boat fund. We are currently
trying to raise nearly £20,000 to supply the South West with
a 7m Tornado RIB + engine and appropriate equipment. Each skydiver
has already found the £180 to cover the fee for the skydive
and we are now trying to raise as much as possible on top of that.
There will video of the skydive both from the ground and the air.
The 'willing' volunteers are ;
Tony Woodley - BDMLR Director ( thanks to Jurassic
Coast Diving, Devon Signs , Exmouth Power Tools and Corner House
Veterinary Surgery for sponsoring my fee )
Lissa Goodwin - Plymouth Coordinator
Faye Archell - Essex Coordinator
Marilyn den Hollander - Medic ( former Plymouth
coordinator, Arie den Hollander's, wife )
Natalie Hartley - BDMLR supporter
Samantha Glanfield - BDMLR supporter
Please sponsor us to help the SW teams get
their boat.
If you know any of the above names personally,
please get in touch with them or just pledge direct to me as it
all goes in the same pot anyway !
Email me via : tony@bdmlr.org.uk
or call me on 07723 054020
Give us yer money !
Spectators/supporters
are welcome to join us at RAF Bicester on the day. Suggest arriving
approx 10.00am. Directions - click HERE
Many thanks,
Tony Woodley
BDMLR Director
BDMLR OnLine
'Easy' seal
rescue ?
23rd May
Had the easiest seal rescue ever today.Had
a call from a lady in Dovercourt, said she had found a seal on the
beach that needed help.Got all the details off her and said I would
go and check it out, she then informed me that it was in her front
room!! she had picked it up and taken it home. So I shot over there
and found a common pup in a vari kennel in her front room. It still
had a partial white coat and the umbilical was very fresh temp 38
degrees. The lady had also called the RSPCA who also contacted me
to say one of there ACOs was on their way, when she arrived I transferred
the seal and she took it to East Winch (RSPCA Wildlife Hospital).
They don't come much easier than that!! even got a cup of tea.
Leon Woodrow
- Essex Assistant Coordinator
Net
entangled seal rescued and released in Cornwall
22nd May
On the evening of Sunday 22nd, Medic Sue Sayer
contacted Coordinator Dave Jarvis about a seal in a cove at Godrevy,
near Hayle, that had hauled out on to a beach alone and had some
fishing net caught around her neck. Fortunately, Dave, Medic Lesley
Jarvis and myself had just dropped off Coordinator Tim Bain in St
Ives after a hard day training some new Medics at the Newquay College
MMM course, but we had not yet left the town.
Foregoing the kebabs we had just purchased,
Dave contacted Tim while I informed Animal Care Assistant Marianne
Fellows of the situation, who also just happened to be in St Ives
at that moment. On the phone, Sue had described the seal as being
possibly 2 years old - larger than the average seal that we deal
with, so Marianne decided that it may be easier to use new capture
net that the Care Team had recently acquired. As the seal was larger
than usual, more experienced seal handlers would be required, so
Animal Care Assistant Selina Gregory was contacted, and agreed to
bring equipment and supplies from the Sanctuary. Senior Animal Care
Assistant Tamara Cooper was also contacted, and set out with Medic
Chris Ellis.
Arriving
at the site, we met Sue and Marianne at the top of the cliff above
the beach the seal was hauled out on. Through Sue's telescope we
could see no blood around the injury, so it was hoped that if there
was a wound, it would not be bad enough for the seal to be brought
back to the Sanctuary for further treatment. While awaiting the
arrival of Selina with the rescue equipment, we formulated a plan
to get down into the cove and catch the seal before it saw us and
made a dash for the water. As the seal was still awake and alert,
it was looking likely that she would disappear into the sea before
anyone got halfway down.
Once Selina and Medic Phil Jarvis had arrived,
the rescue team that would enter the cove gathered up the equipment
and began the descent. The team consisted of Marianne, Tim and Selina.
Since it was still a possibility that the seal would have to come
back to the Sanctuary, more hands would be needed at the cliff top
to help control the animal once we got it out with the help of Portreath
Cliff Rescue Team, so Medic Jenny Haley was called, and brought
together four of the new Medics whom we had helped train just three
hours ago before setting out.
As the rescue team continued slowly and quietly
down into the cove, the seal would occasionally look up and Marianne,
Selina and Tim would have to remain very still until she settled
down again. Everybody on the cliff above held their breath every
time this happened. Eventually, they made it down on to the beach
– just as the seal finally spotted them and started to escape!
Wasting no time at all, Tim and Marianne ran down the beach to cut
it off. While Tim distracted it near the water’s edge, Marianne
readied her towel and jumped the seal – which was in fact
only one of last winter’s pups, so would not be as difficult
to handle as first thought. Tim helped to control the seal while
Selina cut away the net, which had only caused a minor wound that
was cleaned and treated. Selina described the seal’s condition
over the radio to Tamara, who had just arrived with Chris, and it
was decided that the seal would not require further treatment at
the Sanctuary.
With that, the seal was released, and quickly
made its way into the sea. At this point, Jenny Haley arrived with
her team of new Medics, who managed to glimpse the seal swimming
around offshore. The rescue team in the cove then made their way
back out to the sound of applause from Medics and passers-by that
had stopped to watch what was going on.
Medic Dan
Jarvis
BDMLR West Cornwall
(Newquay – Land’s End – St Austell)
[ Further details
and more images on the Cornwall Seal Monitoring
and Observation Group website - click HERE
]
2nd
grey seal pup rescued in as many weeks by Cornwall BDMLR.
18th
May
Yesterday afternoon, the National Seal Sanctuary
received a call about a pup lying on a beach at Tintagel that was
being harassed by people and dogs. The Sanctuary then contacted
BDMLR Medics to go to the scene and watch over the pup and see if
there was anything wrong.
Once Coordinator Tim Bain and Medic Phil Jarvis
arrived on the beach they approached the pup, which did not move.
Getting closer, they could see that the animal had two bad injuries
to its flippers - one an injury down to the bone, and the other
a hole all the way through another flipper. Phil jumped the pup,
and while further assessment was carried out, it was noticed that
many of the front teeth were either broken or missing, obviously
from some kind of impact, likely from being hit against a rock by
a wave. The temperature was recorded at 38 degrees. The Sanctuary
was then informed of the developments.
The animal was loaded into a cage in the back of
Phil's car, and the pup was taken for rehabilitation at the Seal
Sanctuary where they were met by Animal Care Team members Selina
Gregory and Tamara Cooper, who gave the pup a full clinical assessment
and tube fed it fluids.
Medic Dan
Jarvis
BDMLR West Cornwall
(Newquay – Land’s End – St Austell)
Newborn
grey seal pup watched over, rescued.
8th May
Following a call from a member of the public
at 10am on Sunday 8th May, BDMLR Coordinators Dave Jarvis and Tim
Bain, with Medic Lesley Jarvis, were mobilised by Animal Care Assistant
Selina Gregory of the National Seal Sanctuary to St Agnes on the
North Cornish coast. The caller had reported a (very late!) whitecoat
grey seal pup lying at the side of a well-used public beach, and
also that its umbilicus was still present.
Tim Dave and Lesley arrived a short time later,
and found the tiny pup to be still covered in bloody fluids from
being born, and the umbilicus was still bleeding – obviously
the pup was less than a couple of days old at the most. Although
a couple of dogs on the beach had already been over to investigate
the pup, it was not injured or disturbed. It was decided that the
public would be kept well away from the area the pup was in, should
the mother return to it. As the pup was so young, a search for the
birth sac was also conducted, but nothing was found. The Sanctuary
was updated on the progress made so far.
Unfortunately, it was a warm, sunny day, meaning
that many people soon arrived on the beach. All were successfully
kept at a distance and educated about what was happening to reduce
disturbance. By this time, the pup had woken up and was being generally
active and noisy, which was attracting dogs that had to be kept
at bay.
At 3:30pm, nearly six hours after the original
call, no seals whatsoever had been sighted offshore, leaving the
Medics concerned that it had been abandoned, whether it be due to
disturbance or some other reason was not known. To make matters
worse, the tide was now coming in rapidly, and the pup would soon
be caught in it although it did not appear to realise. Other concerns
were that the pup was in an area not known to have a resident population
of seals, and that anecdotally, it has been noted by the Godrevy
Seal Group that a pup has been born during May in the Godrevy area,
but that these pups have apparently failed to survive. The Sanctuary
was contacted, and the pup was duly uplifted and transported there,
and were met by Animal Care Assistant Claire Baker, who carried
out a clinical assessment of the pup with Selina. They found it
to be a female of apparently normal weight and uninjured. The Sanctuary’s
Care Team is now caring for the pup around the clock.
Medic Dan
Jarvis
BDMLR West Cornwall
(Newquay – Land’s End – St Austell)
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Dolphin
monitoring continues at Montrose
3rd May
Medic and Area Co-ordinator Elaine
Roft along with Volunteer Jackie Watt and her husband Ritch spent
from 16.30hrs until 17.15hrs monitoring a school of 6 Bottlenose
Dolphins at River Street, Ferryden. For the past week, the dolphins
have become intent on travelling up the river towards Montrose and
Ferryden harbour areas. Last Tuesday the team were on standby along
with BDMLR Fraserburgh team as the situation was a little worrying
with 3 of the dolphins having travelled as far up river as the road
bridge works on an ebb tide. Had these dolphins continued under
the bridge the would have ended up stranding on the mudflats that
were fully exposed. It is not unusual for the dolphins to come into
the harbour area, they have done so for a few years now, but of
late, they have extended their swim beyond what the team would consider
a safety zone. The school of dolphins includes 1 calf. Photographs
will be submitted to Dr Kevin Robinson of The Cetacean Research
and Rescue Unit, which is based in Gardenstown, Banff, to see if
Identification of these individuals can be sought from dorsal fin
markings. Daily patrols continue by the team and locals meantime.
Elaine
Roft
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
Montrose Area Co-ordinator (Inverbervie-Easthaven)
