Over-friendly seal at risk in the wild is captured
SPEARMINT the over-friendly female seal has been taken away from her home near Plymouth for her own safety – after she became so used to being fed by visitors experts feared she could be vulnerable to attacks.
Spearmint, who had become a fixture at Firestone Bay, has been taken to an animal rescue centre in Somerset. In vain, animal welfare organisations had warned people to stay away from the juvenile seal after a picture showed a member of the public grabbing and “cuddling” her.
The charity British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) confirmed it had been monitoring Spearmint for a while and noticed she may have been suffering from an eye infection. There were also growing concerns that she had travelled up slipways at Kingsand and Cawsand and caused disruption.
She was captured, crated and removed last week to the RSPCA’s wildlife centre in West Hatch, Somerset, where she was checked over by veterinary staff.
There were no signs of any injuries and now a new plan is being devised for the seal’s future.
The BDMLR said: “Spearmint’s behaviour had sadly been affected by people feeding her in the wild, resulting in her becoming overfriendly.
“Wildlife groups had hoped that over the winter by minimising interaction with people that she would return to more wild behaviours.”
However, the charity said two incidents, where Spearmint found her way into the villages of Kingsand and Cawsand, made her continued presence in Plymouth Sound “untenable” and she was captured with minimal stress and taken to West Hatch.