'Seal A&E' life-saver for injured and poorly pups

INJURED seals on North East beaches could have a better shot at survival thanks to a facility established in Northumberland earlier this year.

- DANIEL HALL

The North East Seal Triage Unit (NEST) opened on January 31 as a “seal A&E” initially expecting to treat around 20 grey seal pups in its first three months.

However, volunteer medics got much more than they bargained for, and were inundated with around 70 cases of young seals in need of medical care in that time.

The centre, on the land of Robson and Prescott’s Whorral Bank veterinary hospital in Morpeth, can treat up to six seals at once.

The blubbery mammals are brought in for everything from dog attacks, to pups being separated from their mothers, to a nasty illness called mouth rot.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) medics work with Robson and Prescott vets across the three-room facility, with the aim of getting as many seals as possible fighting fit to return to the wild.

Of the 70 taken in from January to March, 58 were released back onto the region's beaches and six went to Tynemouth Seal Hospital for a period of rehabilitation. Sadly, the remaining six had to be put to sleep.

Debbie Harrison-Hardy, BDMLR’s Northumberland coordinator, said: “We work out what's wrong with them, we feed them, medicate them, they get vet checks. Sometimes they might be in for an overnight stay, sometimes they're in for a few weeks.”