Stranded “bundle of feistiness” rescued from slipway

Thursday 08 November 2018

A ‘feisty’ baby seal found taking a nap on a slipway has been rescued after it was separated from its mum and stranded on Jersey’s coast.

Severely underweight, dehydrated and with no sign of its mum in sight, the three-week-old grey seal pup - believed to usually reside in the Minquiers - was whisked to the vet after being washed ashore during the stormy weather.

The pup - which has been named Andrew by volunteers - was found sleeping on the top of the slipway outside Le Fregate café yesterday morning when volunteers from the Jersey British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), a charity dedicated to rescuing marine mammals in distress, were called to the scene.

Despite his worrying weight, the rescued baby seal was described by Jersey BDMLR Co-ordinator Donna de Gruchy as a “bundle of feistiness”.

Pictured: The grey seal pup, who has since been named Andrew, was found taking a nap on Le Fregate slipway yesterday morning (Jersey BDMLR).

At three weeks, healthy grey seal pups are expected to be around 30-40kg, but Andrew weighed only 17kg, so volunteers decided to take it to New Era Veterinary Surgery so it could be hydrated and stabilised. Express understands that he was kept "comfortable overnight" and is expected to be transported to Guernsey for further care at the GSPCA this morning. Andrew will be flying with marine mammal medic Martine Venton-Heys to Guernsey where he will continue to be nursed back to health.

Donna also explained that he was most likely washed ashore from the Minquiers reef and separated from his mother during this week’s turbulent weather.

Pictured: Andrew was described as a "bundle of feistiness" despite its low weight and being stranded on the slipway (Jersey BDMLR).

Commenting on the rescue, Donna said: “It is always sad to lift a pup from its natural habitat, but this pup is very underweight for its age and with the forecast as it is this week, there is no doubt we would be called again tomorrow, but to an even weaker pup. 

“This poor pup is definitely in need of some assistance. We would usually prefer to wait and see if mum is in the area, however [it] is so underweight that it was likely washed away a while ago…” 

Updating on Andrew's progress, Donna said: "We have a couple of options for getting a seal pup off island, and are really grateful that Blue Islands are able to help this time, once again, especially considering how stormy and windy it is at the moment. It takes a lot of behind the scenes organisation for them to help us and we really appreciate the assistance yet again."