'Rhos-on-Seal'

With only 3 months left of my year long placement at Stapeley Grange, I feel that time has flown by, and as they say 'time flies when you’re having fun' (and working hard!). The day that will be most memorable to me was last Thursday, when I was cleaning and feeding the many ducklings we have in care at the moment and Wildlife Assistant Rob finds me and asks whether I would join him in releasing a seal. 

Unsurprisingly I jumped at the chance and we were soon on our way after getting the seal out of its pool and into a large vari kennel and into the back of our van.  The grey seal came to us in January as an orphan.  Initially he was tube fed fish soup and then hand fed fish until he was then eating on his own.  After some months he was transferred down to RSPCA East Winch (Norfolk) where they have larger, deeper pools.  He weighed around 60kg on release and with male grey seals weighing up to 300kg in the wild, he still has a bit of growing to do! 

We were going to be releasing the seal, named Colin, at Rhos-on-sea. Once we had found a suitable site for release, we carried the seal down to the water.  It was essential we released the seal at high tide, so that as the tide drew out, it would encourage the seal out into the deeper water.  The time finally came, after 5 months in care, to open the cage and release Colin back to the wild.

 

As soon as the door was opened, Colin hurried out and into the water without hesitation - which was amazing to watch.  He stuck around for a couple of minutes before making his way along the shore and then out of the bay. We expect he will migrate and integrate into a colony to breed. 

 

The whole experience was one I will never forget, particularly as I have seen first hand the progress he had made over the past few months.  I now fully appreciate the hard work that goes into rehabilitating such a large animal; I was so grateful to the team for allowing me to help!

Catherine Smith

Student Placement

'If you would like to help RSPCA Stapeley Grange with a donation of just £3, simply text RSPCA2 to 70007' Texts cost £3 + standard network rate.