Influx of seals at RSPCA Wildlife Centres
The recent severe weather conditions have caused a sudden influx of seals and seal pups at all four RSPCA Wildlife Centres. The centres are currently home to nearly sixty seals, many of whom arrived during the last week after being found stranded on beaches or rocks.
It is believed that the recent severe weather conditions came at a particularly trying time for grey seal pups. This is the point of the year at which the pups will have been recently weaned and are now no longer in the care of their mothers. Consequently, inexperienced juveniles are particularly vulnerable to injury in unfamiliar terrain, made all the more hazardous by rough seas.
The East Winch Wildlife Centre in Norfolk has a specialist facility devoted to caring for seals and the nearby concentration of the seal population. Manager Alison Charles said “There have been about four coming in a day since the wind started, most of them just unable to deal with the conditions out there. There have been some older common seals who are very sick and covered with wounds from being bashed against the pebbly beach, but most are juvenile grey seals.”
“It is very unfortunate timing as the winds and rough seas came at the exact point in the year when grey seals are left to fend for themselves and make their own way into the water. It would be incredibly hard work for the inexperienced swimmer to navigate such waters, and many of them just couldn’t cope and were found floundering on beaches or rocks.”
“In one case, a pup was found by a kindly fisherman who felt so sorry for it he put his fishing tent around it for protection while waiting for the rescue services to arrive. He even fed it some of the fish he had caught.”
Anyone who finds a stranded seal, juvenile or adult, is advised to contact the RSPCA as soon as possible so that they can be taken into care and any injuries can be treated promptly. Owing to the possibility that a distressed seal or seal pup may bite, approaching them is not recommended.
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
