A typical example of the grey seal rehabilitation work carried out at West Hatch Wildlife Centre.

Day 1

A young grey seal pup is brought into our centre by British Divers Marine Life Rescue, having been reported in distress by a member of the public. He is about four weeks old, underweight, and has superficial cuts to his hind flippers. He also needs some dental treatment but this will mean anaesthesia and he is not strong enough at the moment so we decide to wait.

We run blood tests and give the pup antibiotics.  We also feed fluids, designed to rehydrate the seal, directly into his stomach. This needs to be done four times a day.

Day 2

The pup is offered whole mackerel but as he is not interested in feeding himself, we have to assist him.  He is treated for lungworm and given iron, salt and vitamin supplements to help build his strength.  To relieve the discomfort of his dental problems we start him on a three-day course of pain relief.

Day 4

Today is a big day for the seal pup.  He is given anaesthesia so that we can perform his dental treatment.  The operation goes well; the two fractured teeth were removed. Hopefully this should ease some of his pain and allow the healing process to start.  We also give the pup a tag so we can identify him in the future.

Day 5

We are really pleased with the pup’s progress. He has started eating whole fish on his own and appears much brighter.
 

Day 13

The seal pup is doing really well; we are stopping his antibiotics today and moving him to a larger pool. He will share the new pool with two other seals undergoing rehabilitation.  It will be good for him to spend some time with other seals.

Day 30

Our pup has now reached a good enough weight to be transferred to the National Seal Sanctuary.  We test his blood and give him a treatment for worms to ensure he is in tip-top condition.

Day 32

We say our goodbyes to the seal pup today as he is transferred to National Seal Sanctuary in Gweek, Cornwall. The National Seal Sanctuary will continue to rehabilitate him and release him back to the wild when he is ready.

Support our work

We rely on people like you to help us with all aspects of our work.

If you would like to show your support why not get involved, get fundraising or just get social.