Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PUPS THAT CRAVE SOLITUDE Save Our Seals
Uncontrolled dogs and tourists putting sea mammals in peril
I hope it’s a wake-up call, then that seal hasn’t died in vain CHRIS PACKHAM ON SEAL FREDDIE’S DEATH
damage to you and your pet. They also carry diseases. This could lead to very expensive vet bills.”
People can be as much of a danger to seals as their pets. Last year, dogwalkers in Abergele, North Wales, rushed to the aid of an injured seal pup being pelted with rocks by a group of youths.
Even well-intentioned tourists can scare seals by getting too close. In fear for their lives, sunbathing seals have been known to launch themselves off rocks to escape beachgoers getting too close.
Richard says: “There are many accounts of seals bolting from disturbances and launching themselves from 8ft high rocks to try and get away. They’ll just make a beeline for the sea as they know they’ll be safe there. But with high drops, it’ll inevitably cause injury”.
Another danger, says Dennis Drew, is people thinking they’re helping seals
when in fact they’re harming them. People have wrapped them up and taken them home, putting them in their own baths and then called us,” he says.
“One woman allowed her children to pour water over it, not knowing the issues. They carry so many infections. Not many hospitals carry the drug needed to deal with bites from seals.”
The RSPCA urges beach-goers to stop
taking selfies of seals, feeding them and pushing them back to the water.
Alison Charles, of the RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Centre in Norfolk, asks if people are concerned for a seal’s welfare to contact the charity or other seal organisations. “Seal pups are with their mum for three weeks and then they’re on their own, that’s it, they have to fend for themselves. The public don’t realise this and think because they see a sick pup, it’s waiting for its mum or is lonely and they’re putting it back in the water.
“These pups are really poorly with things such as pneumonia, septicaemia and lungworm, so the last thing they want to do is go back in the water. Their instinct is telling them to stay on the beach and recover. We urge the public to just observe them from a distance.”
There are two types of seal around the UK. There is the larger grey seal, which number more than 100,000 and can live between 30 and 40 years.
Then there are common or harbour seals, known to swim up rivers in search of their next meal and have even been spotted more than 100 miles upstream.