14 December, 2007

THE PUPPING season for grey seals in Shetland is now largely over, but some young seals are still finding it tough making it on their own in the great outdoors.

This month one young grey seal pup was washed up on the beach right outside Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary, which is based at The Booth, in Hillswick.

"She had fully moulted and lost her white coat, but she was very thin, exhausted, and clearly in need of help," said Jan Bevington, who started running the seal sanctuary 20 years ago.

"We were just taking the dog for a walk in the morning and there she was. She must have heard the other seals crying and thought this might be the right place to come to be looked after."

Jan was already looking after six other grey seal pups - five had been washed into Ronas Voe during an October gale, while one was found at Sound, Lerwick, with severe injuries to its flipper and neck.

Gabrielle, as the new seal was called, was badly dehydrated and still needs regular doses of fluids to build her back up to strength.

SSPCA officer Ron Patterson regularly visits the sanctuary to see how the seal pups are faring. "The new pup was in a very rough state when she first came in, but she seems to be making good progress. She's eating well and I fully expect her to be back at sea in the new year," he said.

Mr Patterson asked for anyone who comes across a seal pup which looks like it is in need of help to get in touch with him at his office in Gott or to contact Jan directly at the wildlife sanctuary.

"Sometimes a seal is in genuine trouble and needs to be collected and taken to the sanctuary. Sometimes it just needs to be left in the wild and for someone to keep an eye on it," he said.

"The best thing to do is to get in touch with Jan or myself and we can make a judgment what the best thing to do is."

Ron Patterson can be contacted on 01595 840 321, and Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary is on 01806 503 348.