Photo: Julian Larbalestier
The Cornish Seal Sanctuary has seen a very early start to the rescue season, with the arrival of its first seal pup admitted to their hospital.
The pup named ‘Maggot’, in line with the ‘bugs and mini-beasts’ theme for the new season, was rescued by British Divers Marine Life Rescue from Porthtowan beach on a busy summer’s day.
Dan Jarvis, Director of Welfare and Conservation at BDMLR explained: “BDMLR’s volunteer Marine Mammal Medics were alerted to the seal hauled out at Porthtowan and visited the site to manage the situation. Although this was very challenging given the time of year and volume of people present, there was a chance that this pup’s mother could still be around.”
“The team’s objective was to keep people at a distance to give the pup and mum a chance to reunite over the next 24 hours, as this would be the best possible outcome. During the observation, the pup spent its time vocalising and moving in and out of the water along different parts of the coast towards Chapel Porth, making a difficult scenario even harder.”
“Unfortunately after a few hours it then returned to the middle of Porthtowan beach and headed up in amongst the many visitors and so, in discussion with the CSS team, it was decided the situation was no longer tenable and the pup should be brought in for care.”
Curator at CSS Tamara Cooper commented “Maggot was brought to the Sanctuary and assessed by our expert vets at Head and Head veterinary practice. She was found to be a female approximately the weight of a pup just a day or so old. She had a small ulcer in her left eye and still had her umbilical cord attached. For a pup so young our concern is always an umbilical infection, so vets prescribed a short course of antibiotics and daily cleaning of her umbilical area to ensure it stays as clean as possible.”
“Maggot is being fed blended fish soup every four hours to keep up the level of feeding that her mum would have provided, but even so it is impossible for the team to emulate the nutrient rich and calorie dense milk that ensures pups are able to put on around 1.5kg a day up to their weaning point at around 17 – 21 days. Maggot has a long rehab in front of her but the sanctuary team will make every effort to give her a second chance.”
Both charities are now reminding locals and visitors alike that it is now the time of year where pups are beginning to be born around the south west coast. Pups and their mothers are highly vulnerable to disturbance that can cause them to separate, sadly leaving the pup to starve to death.
Coast users are urged to be alert that any beach or cave away from public beaches that they enter may have mums and pups on them at any time from now for the next two to three months. If seen, then the national DEFRA marine and coastal wildlife code of conduct dictates that people should stay 100m away, minimise how visible they are and any noise, and to move away slowly and quietly so that the seals do not notice human presence and change their behaviour from relaxed to stressed as a result.
If a pup is found alone on a public beach then do not approach or handle it, and make sure to keep dogs under control on a lead. BDMLR and CSS can be contacted for advice and assistance on 01825 765546 or 01326 221361 respectively.
Photo: Kat Palethorpe
