What to do if…

… you find a seal

🎥 Kindly produced by Archie Taplin at https://www.instagram.com/raggedy.arch/

It’s not unusual to see seals resting on the beach. Seals are semi-aquatic and spend a lot of their time on land to sleep,
conserve energy, digest food more efficiently and raise pups. Therefore, finding a seal on the beach does not mean there is necessarily a problem. After stormy weather and/or high tides, seals will haul out on beaches to rest and regain their strength. Many do not need first aid, but we will always try to find someone to check them out just in case.

To watch seals safely, you must follow the 5 S’s…

• STOP: Please do NOT approach them or allow children or dogs near them (keep dogs on leads). Seals can inflict nasty bites so it’s for yours, your child’s, and your dog’s own protection, as well as the seal’s!

• SPACE: Give seals plenty of space by keeping a minimum distance of 100m from them. If the seal is a young pup, mum might still be in the area. Unweaned seal pups depend on mum’s milk to build up their blubber reserves in order to survive, but she may abandon her pup if anyone has interfered. Use a camera with a zoom or binoculars if you want to take a closer look.

• SILENCE: Seals are easily disturbed on land where they are far more wary of threats. They stampede into the sea when they are startled, which will likely cause injuries and, in extreme cases, even death. Please stay calm, quiet, downwind and keep a low profile during your encounter so they don’t notice you.

• SLEEP: Seals need to conserve their energy for their time out at sea and to digest food, socialise and feed their pups. If a seal is looking directly at you, it means it’s stopped its normal behaviour and is worrying about what you are doing instead, increasing stress.

• SUPPORT: If you’re concerned about a seal’s welfare, please call our rescue hotline on 01825 765546 for advice and we may dispatch our trained Marine Mammal Medics to attend.

Concerning signs in seals:

• Abandoned: If you see a seal with a white, long-haired coat in the autumn/winter (like the picture above), or you see a small seal (less than a metre (three feet) in length) alone between June and August, then it is probably still suckling from its mother. Check the sea regularly for any sign of an adult seal.
• Thin: Signs of malnutrition include visible ribs, hips and neck and perhaps a rather baggy, wrinkled skin.
• Sick: Signs of ill health include: coughing, sneezing or noisy, rapid breathing and possibly thick mucus coming from the nose, wounds or swellings, particularly on flippers, cloudy eyes, or thick mucus around them, or possibly one eye kept closed most of the time. A seal showing little response to any disturbance going on around it (although remember they could be soundly asleep) could also be a sign of ill health.
• Entanglement: Seals are susceptible to being entangled in fishing gear and other debris. heavy commercial gear will be obvious, but monofilament nets and line is hard to see, but could be caught around the neck, flippers and body. Sometimes seals can have nasty wounds due to fishing gear and marine debris cutting into their bodies.

When calling our hotline, you will receive further advice over the phone. If there is a problem with the animal, there are some important things you can do to help:

• Provide information: Give the hotline an accurate description of the seal (use the ID section of this website to determine the species) and its exact location. If at all possible, stay on the beach to guide the rescue team to the animal. This can save valuable and perhaps critical time. If you have a mobile, give the number to the hotline.

• Control disturbance: Stop people and pets from approaching the seal, because – if it is a seal pup that is still suckling, then approaching the pup could threaten the mother-pup bond and the pup may be abandoned. Seals will react if approached too closely and are capable of inflicting a nasty bite – even the smallest pup can cause serious injury and this is even more of a risk with adults.

• Prevent small seals from entering the sea: Stand between a pup and the sea and, if necessary, use a board or similar object to restrain it. Under no circumstances, attempt this with adult seals, as you could leave yourself open to injury. You should avoid handling a seal pup at all costs, for the same reason. Under no circumstances allow anybody to push the seal back in the sea. A pup still suckling is a poor swimmer and an older animal may be hauled out for good reason.

… if you find a live stranded whale, dolphin or porpoise?

🎥 Kindly produced by Archie Taplin at https://www.instagram.com/raggedy.arch/

Please, do NOT put them back in the sea! They may need treatment and/or a period of recovery before they are fit enough to swim strongly. They may even be too ill to return to the sea and so any attempts to return them can prolong their suffering.

CALL US ON 01825 765546 and we will dispatch our trained Marine Mammal Medics to assist.

Whilst you’re waiting for Medics to arrive, follow the 5 P’s…

• PROTECTION: cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) can carry viruses transmissible to humans (and vice versa!), so please put on a facemask and gloves before doing anything else. Avoid the blowhole (the hole on the top – this is how it breathes) for any discharge and steer clear of the tail in case it is thrashing.

• POSITIONING: If the animal is on its side, please upright them by gently rolling them onto their underbelly (You might need some people to help you!) Dig trenches under their pectoral fins so they can hang down comfortably.

• POUR WATER: If the animal is completely stranded on land, pour water over it to keep its skin moist, ensuring that nothing goes down the blowhole. If you have a thin sheet or even seaweed that you can soak with water and drape over the dolphin, please do so but again avoid covering the blowhole so it can breathe.

• PEOPLE: Keep noise and the number of people around the animal to a minimum to reduce stress. Continue to keep the dolphin wet and wait for BDMLR to arrive. Remember to keep everyone safe first and foremost, so do not put yourself in danger with tides, bad weather, rough seas and so on. 

• PHOTOS: Take and send photos and videos to the BDMLR call handler so next steps can be considered. Our handy photo guide here can help with what we need. However, good, clear photos are most important.

Following these steps gives the animal their best chance at survival. Our team of trained Marine Mammal Medics will be with you shortly and will act on what’s best for the animal’s welfare.

If you find a dead cetacean

Should you find a dead dolphin or whale, the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP – covering England and Wales) and Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme (SMASS – covering Scotland) collects a wide range of data on each stranding found on UK shores. If you discover a dead animal, please contact the CSIP/SMASS hotline and give a description of the following where possible:

• Location and date found
• Species and sex
• Overall length
• Condition of the animal
• Your contact details should further information be needed

Digital images are extremely helpful to identify to species, as well as ascertaining whether the body may be suitable for post-mortem examination. 

CSIP has produced a useful leaflet that can be downloaded by clicking here.

CSIP (England and Wales) hotline: 0800 6520333. Callers are given a number of options to ensure they reach the correct department. You can also use this number to contact BDMLR as there is an option for live animal strandings that transfers directly to us.

SMASS (Scotland) hotline: 07979 245893.