Seal Rescue Ireland (SRI) is a registered charity dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of sick, injured and orphaned seals from across the coast of Ireland. Up until the pandemic struck in March 2020, SRI’s visitor centre, based in Courtown, County Wexford, had been open to visitors every day on a donation-basis, meaning there were no reservations needed and no entry fees. In order to adhere to social distance measures throughout the pandemic, SRI decided to offer visitors an up-and-close experience with their playful tenants.

Before the pandemic tightened its grip on Ireland, visitors were welcome to come in whenever they liked to take a free, short tour of SRI’s visitor centre to hear their message about marine conservation, and view activities at the seal hospital from the public viewing area. Melanie Croce, executive director of SRI, explains: “When the first lockdown hit Ireland, we had to close our centre to the public entirely to prevent the spread of covid, and to keep our staff and volunteers safe. When the opportunity arose for educational facilities like ours to reopen, provided that social distancing measures were in place, we knew we would have to adapt our format to control the number of visitors we had on site at once. While in years prior we could see hundreds of guests come through our doors on any given day, new covid-19 restrictions limited us to allowing only 6 people onto our premises at a time, therefore pre-booked time slots became the new norm.”

Based on this, it was decided that offering the ‘Seal Feed and Enrichment Experience’ (SFEE) would be the perfect way to host the public in a very controlled and safe manner, while offering an in-depth look into the centre. “As our fundraising opportunities were much more limited due to the pandemic, the SFEE would be a great way to generate much needed funds to keep our hospital running as well!”

The new experience was an absolute hit, and SRI’s summer time slots began booking up weeks in advance. “Although Ireland has been put back into lockdown since, we look forward to being able to make this experience available to the public once again when restrictions are lifted, for those who are passionate about marine mammal conservation, and want to get the most out of their visit with an immersive, one-hour tour of SRI’s inner workings.”

The experience begins with an engaging presentation about the different types of seals native to Irish waters, the role they play in the ecosystem, and very importantly, about the main threats seals face in our waters which result in the need for rescue and rehabilitation. From there, visitors are guided behind the scenes of our seal hospital to see SRI’s work first hand as volunteers and staff carry out daily tasks in order to nurse sick, injured and orphaned pups back to full health. Visitors will get the chance to meet some of the seal pups up close to learn their rescue stories (with plenty of photo opportunities along the way!). Finally, visitors will have the chance to get in on the action, by helping to feed hungry pups, as well as prepare enrichment items to keep them mentally stimulated in care and hone skills they’ll need in the wild.

“During their behind the scenes experience, visitors can expect to learn A LOT about seal behaviour and biology, to be overloaded with cuteness, and to leave feeling inspired to help protect these iconic animals in the wild. To make the experience even more unforgettable, you’ll have the opportunity to adopt your own seal pup at the end, which will allow you to support and follow the rest of its journey through rehab with adorable updates, up until the big day your seal is released back into the wild.”

People of all ages are welcome to come for a visit, and the experience is great for kids and adults alike! However, parents with small children should note that children aged 2 years and under are not permitted behind the gates into our behind-the-scenes hospital area. If you do have a baby or toddler of this age, you are still welcome to come, however one parent will have to participate in the tour safely from the public viewing area, where they can still see and enjoy the experience.

Meet Melanie

Melanie became an Animal Care and Education Intern for SRI back when it was known as ‘Dingle Wildlife and Seal Sanctuary’ in 2013. From there, she went on to gain further wildlife nonprofit experience as Research Associate for the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, followed by a long term post doing sea turtle and endangered primate conservation and ecotourism work on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea. With this new diversity of international skills, she was invited back to Ireland as SRI’s Operations Manager in April 2017, later to become Executive Director, a role she has held since.

With a general passion for wildlife and a particular love for seals, Melanie states: “What I love most about seals is their seemingly unbreakable spirit. Many of the seals that we rescue come in terribly injured, entangled, or orphaned from just a few days old. Seeing them fight for their lives is truly inspiring to watch as we take them through the rehabilitation process. Even if they may be in rough condition, they never lose their spunk, their fighting spirit and their curiosity about the world around them. It’s incredible getting to see their unique personalities come out as they start their journey towards recovery. By the time they reach our rehabilitation pools, and are very close to release back into the wild, the little spark inside them has grown into a flame and you get to see them swimming strongly, swirling in the water out of joy, diving and competing for fish and interacting with the other seals. They are just beautiful to watch as they grow and flourish.”

Dogs of the Sea

Being social creatures with unique personality traits, seals share quite a few things with our furry, four-legged friends on land. “There is definitely a strong connection to be made between dogs and seals, and this comparison is certainly grounded in some truth. Seals are closely related to dogs, sharing a similar skeletal structure and similar physical appearance, in the face and snout in particular.” Like dogs, seals have different and unique personality traits. “They are incredibly intelligent, adaptable. social, curious, and they REALLY like to play. We periodically provide enrichment items like seaweed, frozen fish blocks, or seaweed to the seals in care to keep them happy and mentally stimulated, but they can make a toy out of just about anything. There is never a dull moment when we watch our seals go about their day in the pools, as they learn social skills, tease each other, and even make friendships with the other seals.”

Melanie emphasises that there are a few key differences to remember when coming up-and-close with a seal. “Whereas dogs have been domesticated over hundreds of years, seals are still very much wild animals. While there are many stories of seals coming up to divers, swimmers and kayakers in the wild, these encounters must always occur on the seal’s terms. As humans, we must never seek out interactions with wild seals, as you pose a risk to their well-being by doing so, as it can lead to abandonment in pups and deprive adults of crucial resting periods. It is also dangerous for you to get too close to a seal that may try to defend itself, even if it seems friendly and “dog-like”. Seals have very sharp teeth, and can carry a lot of bacteria in their mouths, which means there is always a risk for zoonotic disease transfer if you were to get bitten.”

Even so, Melanie has established many relationships with the seals at SRI, where she has watched them getting ready to be released back to the sea. “Releasing a healthy seal back into the wild is one of the best feelings in the world, and it is always a very emotional day. When you see this pup that you put so much time and effort into caring for, cleaning their wounds and nurturing them to eat on their own, keeping them clean, warm and comfortable, it can be really hard to say goodbye. But it’s also truly rewarding and incredible seeing them grow and become healthy, happy seals. When it is time to release them on the beach you can’t help but become filled with happiness knowing that they have a new lease on life and the best chance of survival possible. It’s a proud moment knowing that all of our hard work has paid off.”

Rehabilitation

This is the story of Orion and Solar, two seal pups rescued by Seal Rescue Ireland.

In the early morning of the 30th of June last year, we received a call to our rescue phone about two very tiny common seal pups. It was quite an unusual sight, as these two pups were discovered on the bank of a river about 200 meters from the sea. The two almost seemed like siblings at first, the way they were sticking close to one another, but this is highly unlikely as seals only carry one pup at a time and a recorded cases of twins is incredibly rare. Most likely, both pups got separated from their mothers in the unseasonably stormy weather, came across each other, and bonded very quickly as they were each frightened and alone. While the finder was giving us information about the pups, they hopped back in the river and started swimming upstream. These two were very lost and going in the wrong direction, and would not be able to survive without their mothers at such a young and vulnerable age. We sent a trained volunteer out right away to check for the pups, but they were nowhere to be found. Later that evening, they were spotted again, and this time our volunteer was able to rescue them. The next day we arranged a relay of volunteers to drive them to our centre in Courtown.

In their admit exam upon arrival at our centre, we found that one of the pups was male and the other was female. As our naming theme for the season was Celestial Bodies, we named the male Orion and the female Solar, and they stayed with us for just over 4 months.

Orion and Solar, who became known by our volunteers as “The Twins”, were totally inseparable throughout the whole rehabilitation process. We had initially tried to put them into separate ICUs, as would be standard practice, but they cried so much when they were separated that we decided it would be best to just keep them together. They loved to snuggle up with one another, and in the early stages of rehabilitation, anything to improve their wellbeing and reduce stress can make a big difference to their recovery. Solar would climb on top of Orion and bug him when he was napping, just like a little sister would. They went through the rehabilitation process very well, and once they were a bit more stable they moved to a kennel together where they would start to learn how to eat fish on their own.

It can take some orphaned Common seals quite a long time to learn how to eat for themselves, since this is normally a behaviour that they learn through time spent with their mother in the wild. However, Orion and Solar did quite well, they progressed at an excellent rate and were soon eating fish on their own, and ready to be moved to our pools within about 6 weeks. In the pools they learned how to compete for fish, developed their swimming and diving skills and got to socialize with other seals.

Orion and Solar were both healthy and ready to go home on the 6th November. We released them together on a quiet beach in County Galway, and they ventured into the sea for the first time in tandem, sticking closely together for moral support as they had throughout their rescue and rehab process. Before long we saw their two little heads swimming off into the open ocean. It was heartwarming. We know that seals are usually quite solitary animals but we often wonder if they stick together in the wild, after overcoming such obstacles as a team.

Make a mental note: Seals are protected under EU and Irish law, therefore it is illegal to disturb, harass, or harm them. SRI recommends staying at least 100 meters away from seals in the wild, and keeping your dog on a leash if seals are nearby.

Support SRI

In what other ways can you support Seal Rescue Ireland right now?

Since SRI can’t have in-person visitors come to the centre due to current covid restrictions, we have adapted a virtual SRI experience that anyone can take part in from the comfort and safety of your home! We have just launched our Virtual Seal Feed and Enrichment Experience, which is a 45-minute session involving the same behind-the-scenes tour with your own personal SRI guide, and the opportunity to meet our pups in care, and watch them be fed and cared for.. entirely remotely!

To find out more visit:

https://www.sealrescueireland.org/visit-us/

There are many other great ways in which you can support SRI right now as well!

If you want to become an honorary seal parent and follow the story of one of the seals in our care, you can Adopt a Seal! For a one-off donation, you can make a difference in that seal’s life and receive an adoption certificate, the seal’s story, and regular “pupdates” with photo and video content. An adoption makes a wonderful waste-free gift for kids, friends, and family members alike.

You can make a Donation, or even start your own Facebook Fundraiser for us, whether it’s a birthday fundraiser or a challenge that your friends and family can pledge to support! From as little as €5 per month you can become a Seal Heroes Member, which provides ongoing support to help ensure that SRI always has the ability to meet the needs of all our pups in care. This stability is crucially important at this time, as public events and fundraising has been limited due to covid, and the number of patients requiring our care is on a major rise. In 2020, SRI had a record breaking year for seal intakes with a grand total of 170. This was a 45% increase from the year before! Follow SRI on all our social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Youtube) and share our posts so that we can reach a wider audience to hear our message of marine conservation, and to help support this mission!