Rescue, Rehabilitate, Release
Tuesday, 14 April 2020
We are marine animal charity and part of the SEALIFE Trust and we rescue and rehabilitate seals pup from around the Cornish Coastline. Each season, the Sanctuary rehabilitates over 70 seal pups that have been rescued for various reasons, from malnourishment to being separated from their mum.
We thought we'd share the process of pup rehabilitation here at the Sanctuary, from rescue to release!
RESCUE: Every year we rescue lots of sick, injured or abandoned grey seal pups from the Cornish coast. We get calls from the public telling us they have found a pup on the beach; we will then go out to assess the pup to see if it needs rescuing.
REHABILITATION: If the pup needs rescuing, we will bring it back here to the sanctuary and nurse it back to health. We carry out a full clinical assessment on the pup and then administer any medication it might need and tend to any injuries.
ROAD TO RECOVERY: As well as nursing the pups back to health, we also have to build their weight up with lots of fish! Once they are eating well they will then go outside to the Nurseries and then the Convalescence pool to build up social skills and also to practice competing for their food with our resident adults.
RELEASE: Our target weight is 30kg, so when the pups have reached this weight, are feeding and competing well with each other and are happy, plump and healthy, we release them back to the wild! All of our pups are tagged on their rear flippers, so if you ever see a seal with a little coloured tag, give us a call.
Here you can watch our final release of the season, and wave goodbye to the pups with us!