CALL TO STAY AWAY FROM SEALS
VISITORS to the seafront in Bray are being warned to avoid approaching a seal pup and his mother along the shore.
Seán and Síle (as named by Coastcare chairman Seamus Connor), have been there for more than a week.
While most passers-by and onlookers have been happy to cooperate, volunteers have received resistance from some, including the ‘ two fingers’ from one dog-walker. On another occasion, teenagers threw bangers near the animal, and another woman shouted ‘f **k off, you’d swear it was f **king human!’
Mr Connor put out a call last Tuesday for help from anyone in the community and arranged to put up temporary cordoning tape around the area. A team of volunteers has also been monitoring the area and urging people to keep a distance, stay outside the cordoned area, and keep dogs on a lead. People are also asked to keep noise levels down and stay off the beach wall.
The mother has been coming and going to feed the young seal. Mr Connor contacted the Irish Seal Sanctuary who gave advice on how to ensure the mother and pup are kept safe.
The sanctuary advises people not to approach or touch the pup as human scent may result in the mother abandoning the pup.
The young seal may need a number of weeks on the beach to shed its white fur before being ready to take to the sea.
If people interfere with the pup or its environment, the mother may abandon him, in which case he would be taken to the seal sanctuary and cared for before being released back into the wild.