Seal pups rescued in Scarborough

BBC News
August 12, 2010

Joni the Seal pup at the Scarborough Sea Life Centre. Picture: Scarborough Sea Life Centre

Three seemingly abandoned seal pups have arrived at the Scarborough Sea Life Centre. They were all rescued within the space of a week.

The pups are currently undergoing treatment in the Seal Rescue Centre attached to the Scarborough attraction.

They weighed just 9kg each, 11kg under their ideal weight, when they were found.

The pups will be released when they reach 35kg and have a stronger chance of surviving in the wild.

Staff at the centre have named the three seals after Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix and Jethro Tull, as Lyndsey Crawford explained:

"Every season we choose a theme for naming any rescued seal pups and when Joni came in as loud as she did, we just knew it had to be rock stars.

"She is incredibly vocal and now she is well on the road to recovery. She even seems to be enjoying the attention and posing for photographs."

Low weight a concern

Lyndsey said the low weight of all three pups had been a real concern for them and believes the pups may have been abandoned before they had learnt to fend for themselves.

Jimi was rescued from rocks outside the Sea Life Centre after a concerned passer-by raised the alarm after spotting he had got trapped and was struggling to get free.

"After a mad dash to rescue him, Jimi is still very poorly. He is incredibly underweight and has an abscess on his nose.

"He is on a course of antibiotics to fight the infection and hopefully should be feeling better in no time," said Lyndsey.

Staff at the Sea Life Centre expect all the pups will recover their health and, after gaining some weight, will be released back into the wild.