Christian Bale was rescued on 31st December 2023
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British Divers Marine Life Rescue´s (BDMLR) headquarters received an early morning call out to a stormy Porthgwidden beach in St Ives on the 31st of December 2023. The BDMLR´s coordinator arranged for Alison and Sam, volunteer marine mammals medics, to check on the seal pup. The male grey pup was waiting for table service but the cafe was not open!!
Alison and Sam carried out an assessment and noticed a possible injury to the right eye. The pup was energetic to handle, with a slightly raised temperature, a small ulcer in right eye, good weight at 22.7kg but mild to moderate cellulitis in the right elbow area. Given the stormy conditions and this injury, the decision was made to uplift the pup.
| | Photos Credit : Alison Davey - BDMLR
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Chris, one of the volunteer medics, offered to take the pup to the BDMLR´s seal hospital in Cornwall for initial treatment and care until a pen was made available on 15th January 2024 at the Sanctuary´s hospital at Gweek where the pup is continuing his rehabilitation journey.
| Photos Credit : Lizzi Larbalestier - BDMLR
Photos below were taken on 3rd & 7th January 2024 in the BDMLR´s seal hospital.
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This 10-12 weeks old male grey seal pup has been named Christian Bale by the animal care team.
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Update - 29th January 2024 : Christian is now in the outside nursery pool number 4, this means he is on the road to recovery and mixing with other seal pups, also has a deeper pool to swim in. Pups in the nursery pools will be learning how to behave in the wild, interacting with other seals and also competing for their fish, which are all vital skills they will need when they are released back out into the wild.
Christian´s flipper tag ID number is SL285 (yellow).
These photos of Christian were taken on the 27th of January 2024.
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| Update - 25th February 2024 : Christian is now in the rehabilitation pool and is ready to be released back into the wild shortly.
These photos below of Christian were taken on the 24th of February 2024.
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Update - 27th February 2024 : The weather conditions in Cornwall were perfect to release some of the seal pups who had been staying at the Sanctuary for the past few months were released back into the wild on the 27th of February 2024 at Perranuthnoe beach in South Cornwall.
Christian, along with lots of other rescued pups, were all at a good weight and fully recovered thanks to the care and expertise of the brilliant Animal Care Team. It is such an amazing feeling for the team to see them happily "galumphing" back home. Good luck little ones.
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