September 2005

Hastings Seal Rescue

29th September

BDMLR received a call about a Harbour seal on Hastings Seafront at 8.45pm last night after a member of the public came across the youngster lying on Hastings Seafront very close to the Town Centre.

I was accompanied by Medics Murrae Hume (from Eastbourne) and Robert Bliss (from Bexhill) on the beach where we found a Harbour Seal approximately 3 feet long.

The seal was active and alert, but you could tell from the visible neck line and wrinkled skin that it was underweight and probably dehydrated.

Forming a barrier between the seal and the water medics slowly approached the seal and Murrae was able to catch it. Once caught Trevor examined the seal for injuries and signs of illness but likely the seal pup was not too bad.

There were a few minor cuts to the flippers but nothing serious luckily. Being only 10 minutes away from the RSPCA Mallydams Wood centre at Fairlight we decided not to tube the seal.

The seal was then placed in the back East Sussex Wildlife Rescue's waiting veterinary ambulance and driven to the to Fairlight for further assessment and care, where the seal was found to have a slightly raised temperature.

This is the third seal which BDMLR medics have dealt with on the Kent and Sussex coastline in the past two weeks. Medic Brett Lewis from Herne Bay has dealt with two pups on the north Kent coast also.

Well done to Brett Lewis, Murrae Hume and Robert Bliss for their hard work.

Trevor Weeks
Assistant Co-ordinator Sussex
Advance Marine Mammal Medic

Seal Incident - Spurn Point

25th September

Neil received a call from Linzi at Sea Life Centre Scarborough regarding a seal that was at Spurn Point, members of the public had expressed concerns about it. The seal had been tagged and identified as Ouse who had been released at Donna Nook in August. Neil examined him and was concerned that he, (Ouse not Neil) was extremely lethargic. There were a large number of people on the beach stroking Ouse and taking photos, he has to be the most people friendly seal ever encountered. Neil had a word with Linzi and expressed concerns, it was decided that he may need to be returned to Sea Life Centre due to his lethargy. Lisa arrived with transport and equipment and once we began to transport him off the beach he became more alert. We had another discussion with Linzi and it was decided that we should give him the opportunity of returning back to the sea. We placed him back on the beach (away from people) and waited for the high tide, (not long fortunately approx 2 hours). Once the tide came in he decided he had had enough of our company and entered the sea
swimming off into the wide blue yonder. A happy ending for all.

Medics - Neil & Lisa Wray

Stranding Exercise - Saturday 12th November 2005

At the debrief of the Mass Stranding Exercise it was agreed that we would look at running several stranding exercises at mystery locations in the Kent & Sussex area.

We are running an exercise on Saturday 12th November. To be held somewhere in the Eastbourne area of East Sussex. It is planned that each exercise will have a different twist and be slightly unusual in some way possing new questions and making us look at different scenarios etc.

The location and time are a secret. At some point on the 12th you will receive a phone call saying a stranding has occured and you will be given the details of where to go. That is all you will be told initially. We want these exercises to be as life like a possible. You will need to get yourself organised and down to the site as quickly as possible. If you want to base yourself in the area first thing in the morning so you are closer that is OK, as long as we have a mobile phone number for you and know how to contact you on the day.

If you would like to book on this exercise please fill in the attached form [ click HERE ] and return it to me at BDMLR's office with a £5 donation to BDMLR to cover costs of organising and setting up the exercise. We'll have time to meet up afterwards and have a drink at a local pub too - honest!!!!

Trevor Weeks
Advanced Marine Mammal Medic
BDMLR (Sussex Ast Co-ordinator)

Seal rescue, Leigh on Sea, Essex

14th/15th September

It was coming up to regatta weekend in Leigh on Sea where about ten thousand folks descend on the old town. On Wednesday 14th September BDMLR received a call about a seal pup that was hauling out opposite the old town quay. The common seal pupping season is slowing down here now but we are still picking up underweight stragglers from that, but this little feller seemed about the right weight and seemed old enough not to be maternally dependent. But we were worried about him hauling out in such close vicinity to people, so we were asked by the Pier and Foreshore department to nab him and assess his condition anyway. He led us (Faye and Bob!) a slippery dance over the mud as every time we were ready to grab him he slipped into the partially flooded creek and slipped by us. We tried to scare him out into the major deep water channel where all his buddies are, but this provoked him in to “swimming towards us” and giving me an investigatory bite on my leg !

[ click image to enlarge ]

So Thursday was the day that we decided to turn up ready for anything this time, the problem was that when the three of us (Bob Archell, Diane Day and Mark Gregory) arrived at the quay the seal had gone! This had been happening for the last three days where he turned up and drew the crowds then disappeared off to the end of the creek for a few hours! A chat with Gary the fishmonger on the quayside and Silvia our Community Police Officer gave us the time the little rascal had fled and we realised that if we walked quickly after him down the creek there was a chance that we could catch up with him as the water drained from the creek. Ever tried to walk quickly in knee deep mud? It took us over an hour to catch up with him. Anyway it wasn’t long before he saw us and went for the creek, but this time the water was too shallow for him to swim away. He flopped along the creek bed with us in hot pursuit. He put up a bit of a feisty fight and then we manoeuvred a towel over his eyes and wrapped it around his snapping snout and he started calm down. It was an even longer walk back to shore with him in our seal net slung on poles over our shoulders and as we walked we all guessed at his weight. After phoning James Barnett and confirming that the cut off weight for a weaned pup we can release is 18 kgs (20 to 25 is better but at 18 kgs we could just relocate him into one of the established colonies out on the Thames sandbanks). He weighed in at 16kgs…..So what to do? A lot of telephoning then took place akin to negotiations over the release of hostages, eventually the RSPCA decided that they would pick him up from us but not until Friday morning….Taking the temperature of a 16 kgs seal, “Mr Snappy” I called him, in the confines of my garage was, well, exciting but we managed to keep him comfortable over night and bade him a fond farewell the next day. The regatta was by all events a great success and there were no harmful seal/human interactions to report !

Report by Bob Archell - BDMLR Director

Failed seal rescue – Bawdsey, Suffolk

10th September

I received a call from Faye Archell about 11.10am who asked if I could check out a young seal at East Lane, Bawdsey.
which was laid on the shore panting. The same seal had apparently been reported to the RSPCA in the same place, by the same informant, the day before…. (click HERE for map of location)

I gathered some kit together and set off with my wife Gwen and arrived about 11.35am, East Lane being only about 4 miles from home. After a short search we found the seal laid on a concrete ledge, below some boulders, some 2ft wide and 6-8ft above the sea; a vertical drop.

This area of the coast suffers severe erosion (some 10m over the last 7-8 yrs) and has had huge boulders tipped in an effort to slow the process. The ledge concerned was part of a WW2 pillbox which has slipped seaward.

[ click on the pic to watch a short video clip. 2Mb in size ]

The seal was indeed young – 6-8 wks(?) and clearly undernourished, laid on its belly and panting quickly. Unfortunately it was alert enough and did not like our presence. It rolled over and flopped into the sea.

It clearly did not want to be there and swam back towards the rocks. Due to their height and the pounding waves of the incoming tide it could not reach their safety. Also the current flowing North-South was preventing it, in its obviously weakened state, from reaching the shingle beach only some 20m away to the North.

The effort it was putting in to seek safety was taking its toll and when it rested it was pushed further along the current – Southbound. There would be no readily accessible shore for over a mile.

Our phone was dead so we could not raise any further assistance. We watched helplessly for the next hour or so as the seal got weaker and was carried about ¼ mile south, only some 4-5m off-shore. There, in a reasonably sheltered spot it remained for about 20 minutes, but still inaccessible.

We decided to return home, a) to make contact with Faye and b) in the hope that at high tide, another hour away, the seal would be able to make the rocks or be carried on the current to the shingle shore a mile away. We updated Faye and advised her we would return later which we did at about 6pm.

We went to the point of the last sighting and there was the seal no further than 20m from where we last saw it, still unreachable but only 4m off-shore, and clearly very much weaker. It was rolled over in the water with the wave motion and barely lifted its head.

It was impractical, and indeed dangerous to enter the water. With our now revived phone we spoke to both Faye and Bob Archell who said he would attend with the boat – but to launch would be a problem due to the boulders and the cliff being fenced off due to it crumbling. Bob’s ETA - 8pm.

The young seal was struggling and disappeared beneath the surface. It reappeared 2 or 3 minutes later. It did not move again save for being wafted by the waves. Time of death – about 6.20pm.

So very frustrating and saddening to be so near yet so helpless.

The video clip shows the seal on the ledge on our arrival and then shortly after entering the water from the ledge. The safety of the shingle shore some 20m to the left.

Tony Wooderson
Asst. Coordinator, Suffolk

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		September 2005 News
	Hastings Seal Rescue 29th September BDMLR received a call about a Harbour seal on Hastings Seafront at 8.45pm last night after a member of the public came across the youngster lying on Hastings Seafront very close to the Town Centre. I was accompanied by Medics Murrae Hume (from Eastbourne) and Robert Bliss (from Bexhill) on the beach where we found a Harbour Seal approximately 3 feet long. The seal was active and alert, but you could tell from the visible neck line and wrinkled skin that it was underweight and probably dehydrated. Forming a barrier between the seal and the water medics slowly approached the seal and Murrae was able to catch it. Once caught Trevor examined the seal for injuries and signs of illness but likely the seal pup was not too bad. There were a few minor cuts to the flippers but nothing serious luckily. Being only 10 minutes away from the RSPCA Mallydams Wood centre at Fairlight we decided not to tube the seal. The seal was then placed in the back East Sussex Wildlife Rescue's waiting veterinary ambulance and driven to the to Fairlight for further assessment and care, where the seal was found to have a slightly raised temperature. This is the third seal which BDMLR medics have dealt with on the Kent and Sussex coastline in the past two weeks. Medic Brett Lewis from Herne Bay has dealt with two pups on the north Kent coast also. Well done to Brett Lewis, Murrae Hume and Robert Bliss for their hard work. Trevor Weeks Assistant Co-ordinator Sussex Advance Marine Mammal Medic Seal Incident - Spurn Point 25th September Neil received a call from Linzi at Sea Life Centre Scarborough regarding a seal that was at Spurn Point, members of the public had expressed concerns about it. The seal had been tagged and identified as Ouse who had been released at Donna Nook in August. Neil examined him and was concerned that he, (Ouse not Neil) was extremely lethargic. There were a large number of people on the beach stroking Ouse and taking photos, he has to be the most people friendly seal ever encountered. Neil had a word with Linzi and expressed concerns, it was decided that he may need to be returned to Sea Life Centre due to his lethargy. Lisa arrived with transport and equipment and once we began to transport him off the beach he became more alert. We had another discussion with Linzi and it was decided that we should give him the opportunity of returning back to the sea. We placed him back on the beach (away from people) and waited for the high tide, (not long fortunately approx 2 hours). Once the tide came in he decided he had had enough of our company and entered the sea swimming off into the wide blue yonder. A happy ending for all. Medics - Neil & Lisa Wray Stranding Exercise - Saturday 12th November 2005 At the debrief of the Mass Stranding Exercise it was agreed that we would look at running several stranding exercises at mystery locations in the Kent & Sussex area. We are running an exercise on Saturday 12th November. To be held somewhere in the Eastbourne area of East Sussex. It is planned that each exercise will have a different twist and be slightly unusual in some way possing new questions and making us look at different scenarios etc. The location and time are a secret. At some point on the 12th you will receive a phone call saying a stranding has occured and you will be given the details of where to go. That is all you will be told initially. We want these exercises to be as life like a possible. You will need to get yourself organised and down to the site as quickly as possible. If you want to base yourself in the area first thing in the morning so you are closer that is OK, as long as we have a mobile phone number for you and know how to contact you on the day. If you would like to book on this exercise please fill in the attached form [ click HERE ] and return it to me at BDMLR's office with a £5 donation to BDMLR to cover costs of organising and setting up the exercise. We'll have time to meet up afterwards and have a drink at a local pub too - honest!!!! Trevor Weeks Advanced Marine Mammal Medic BDMLR (Sussex Ast Co-ordinator) Seal rescue, Leigh on Sea, Essex 14th/15th September It was coming up to regatta weekend in Leigh on Sea where about ten thousand folks descend on the old town. On Wednesday 14th September BDMLR received a call about a seal pup that was hauling out opposite the old town quay. The common seal pupping season is slowing down here now but we are still picking up underweight stragglers from that, but this little feller seemed about the right weight and seemed old enough not to be maternally dependent. But we were worried about him hauling out in such close vicinity to people, so we were asked by the Pier and Foreshore department to nab him and assess his condition anyway. He led us (Faye and Bob!) a slippery dance over the mud as every time we were ready to grab him he slipped into the partially flooded creek and slipped by us. We tried to scare him out into the major deep water channel where all his buddies are, but this provoked him in to “swimming towards us” and giving me an investigatory bite on my leg ! [ click image to enlarge ] So Thursday was the day that we decided to turn up ready for anything this time, the problem was that when the three of us (Bob Archell, Diane Day and Mark Gregory) arrived at the quay the seal had gone! This had been happening for the last three days where he turned up and drew the crowds then disappeared off to the end of the creek for a few hours! A chat with Gary the fishmonger on the quayside and Silvia our Community Police Officer gave us the time the little rascal had fled and we realised that if we walked quickly after him down the creek there was a chance that we could catch up with him as the water drained from the creek. Ever tried to walk quickly in knee deep mud? It took us over an hour to catch up with him. Anyway it wasn’t long before he saw us and went for the creek, but this time the water was too shallow for him to swim away. He flopped along the creek bed with us in hot pursuit. He put up a bit of a feisty fight and then we manoeuvred a towel over his eyes and wrapped it around his snapping snout and he started calm down. It was an even longer walk back to shore with him in our seal net slung on poles over our shoulders and as we walked we all guessed at his weight. After phoning James Barnett and confirming that the cut off weight for a weaned pup we can release is 18 kgs (20 to 25 is better but at 18 kgs we could just relocate him into one of the established colonies out on the Thames sandbanks). He weighed in at 16kgs…..So what to do? A lot of telephoning then took place akin to negotiations over the release of hostages, eventually the RSPCA decided that they would pick him up from us but not until Friday morning….Taking the temperature of a 16 kgs seal, “Mr Snappy” I called him, in the confines of my garage was, well, exciting but we managed to keep him comfortable over night and bade him a fond farewell the next day. The regatta was by all events a great success and there were no harmful seal/human interactions to report ! Report by Bob Archell - BDMLR Director Failed seal rescue – Bawdsey, Suffolk 10th September I received a call from Faye Archell about 11.10am who asked if I could check out a young seal at East Lane, Bawdsey. which was laid on the shore panting. The same seal had apparently been reported to the RSPCA in the same place, by the same informant, the day before…. (click HERE for map of location) I gathered some kit together and set off with my wife Gwen and arrived about 11.35am, East Lane being only about 4 miles from home. After a short search we found the seal laid on a concrete ledge, below some boulders, some 2ft wide and 6-8ft above the sea; a vertical drop. This area of the coast suffers severe erosion (some 10m over the last 7-8 yrs) and has had huge boulders tipped in an effort to slow the process. The ledge concerned was part of a WW2 pillbox which has slipped seaward. [ click on the pic to watch a short video clip. 2Mb in size ] The seal was indeed young – 6-8 wks(?) and clearly undernourished, laid on its belly and panting quickly. Unfortunately it was alert enough and did not like our presence. It rolled over and flopped into the sea. It clearly did not want to be there and swam back towards the rocks. Due to their height and the pounding waves of the incoming tide it could not reach their safety. Also the current flowing North-South was preventing it, in its obviously weakened state, from reaching the shingle beach only some 20m away to the North. The effort it was putting in to seek safety was taking its toll and when it rested it was pushed further along the current – Southbound. There would be no readily accessible shore for over a mile. Our phone was dead so we could not raise any further assistance. We watched helplessly for the next hour or so as the seal got weaker and was carried about ¼ mile south, only some 4-5m off-shore. There, in a reasonably sheltered spot it remained for about 20 minutes, but still inaccessible. We decided to return home, a) to make contact with Faye and b) in the hope that at high tide, another hour away, the seal would be able to make the rocks or be carried on the current to the shingle shore a mile away. We updated Faye and advised her we would return later which we did at about 6pm. We went to the point of the last sighting and there was the seal no further than 20m from where we last saw it, still unreachable but only 4m off-shore, and clearly very much weaker. It was rolled over in the water with the wave motion and barely lifted its head. It was impractical, and indeed dangerous to enter the water. With our now revived phone we spoke to both Faye and Bob Archell who said he would attend with the boat – but to launch would be a problem due to the boulders and the cliff being fenced off due to it crumbling. Bob’s ETA - 8pm. The young seal was struggling and disappeared beneath the surface. It reappeared 2 or 3 minutes later. It did not move again save for being wafted by the waves. Time of death – about 6.20pm. So very frustrating and saddening to be so near yet so helpless. The video clip shows the seal on the ledge on our arrival and then shortly after entering the water from the ledge. The safety of the shingle shore some 20m to the left. Tony Wooderson Asst. Coordinator, Suffolk