CAN YOU HELP TO SAVE OUR SEALS?
A charity supporting Cornwall’s wild seals needs help.
IF you thought a one seal was very much like another, the Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust will put you right.
And their work – processing more than one million photographs of seals over the past 20 years, and identifying individual animals by their unique fur patterns – has helped improve protection for these appealling sea mammals.
But coronavirus and the lockdown it necessesitated has taken its toll on the charity and its fund-raising efforts. A £50,000 funding shortfall has put photo ID work, coastal seal monitoring programmes, volunteer training and events, including school visits, all at risk.
So the group has launched a crowdfunding appeal to support its marine rangers programme, at a cost of £20,000 for 12 months. They plan to use that breathing space to find other ways to make up the rest of the shortfall to continue their work.
The Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust has won support from BBC Springwatch’s Gillian Burke as its crowdfunding patron. Founder and director of the group, Sue Sayer said: “‘We have got off to a flying start with our patron, Gillian Burke from Springwatch, heading up our Crowdfunding Appeal, but we need to keep up this great momentum. Cornwall’s precious marine environment needs your support now, so we can keep our Marine Rangers after August 2020. Please check us out and tell all your friends, as we have some brand new and exclusive rewards.”
Marine Ranger Emilly Pollitt said the threats to seals are widespread. By telling the stories of individuals, some of which have been monitored for more than 20 years, protection for the animals is improved. She said: “Seals face many threats including climate change, chemical & pharmaceutical pollution, accidental by-catch, prey redistribution, microplastics, disturbance injuries and entanglement. We need your help to keep on telling their stories. The more people that help to protect our endangered seals, the more memories seals will continue to create for today’s children, their children and their children’s children.”
Donate at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/protect-endangeredseals-by-funding-marine-rangers
‘The more people that help to protect seals, the more memories they create for our children’ EMILLY POLLITT