David Tennant was rescued on 14th December 2023
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David Tennant, an eight weeks old male grey seal pup, was rescued from Porthcurno beach on the 14th of December 2023 by Nicky, Clare and Andrea, volunteer marine mammals medics of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR).
When Nicky arrived there were lots of members of the public with dogs (some dogs off the leads) out for their afternoon stroll on the Porthcurno beach. The owners were asked to keep their dogs on leads and away from the area where the seal pup was located. An assessment was carried out on the seal pup, his temperature was 38.1 degrees, malnourished and small for his age, a few abrasions on hind fins, jaw and his right front flipper were swollen. Andrea contacted the BDMLR area coordinator with details and it was decided to take him to the BDMLR hospital.
Photo Credit : Nicky Jms - BDMLR
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The pup was taken to the BDMLR´s seal hospital in Cornwall for initial treatment and care until a pen became available on 28th of December 2023, when David was admitted to the Sanctuary´s hospital in Gweek to continue his rehabilitation journey.
Photos Credit : Lizzi Larbalestier - BDMLR - 20th & 21st December 2023
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Update - 29th December 2023 : David will spend a week or so in the hospital receiving TLC from the animal care team. It will not be too long before he is moved down to the outside nursery pools for his next stage of rehabilitation.
His flipper tag ID number is SL279 (yellow).
The photo below was taken on 29th of December 2023.
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Update - 17th January 2024 : Last week members of the animal care team had a visit from Head & Head Veterinary Practice Ltd (the sanctuary´s vet partners in Helston) who helped the team to x-ray a grey seal pup with a poorly flipper.
David had puss coming from a wound near his nailbed and, as it wasn´t healing the way the team had hoped over a couple of weeks with his treatment, they feared it might be broken.
The x-ray revealed a slight decrease in bone density from infection and inflammation; however, as there was no break, this meant he didn´t need surgery and the team could continue his current treatment.
In these photos, you can see animal care team member, Elliot, getting the pup into position, ahead of the x-ray.
Today, David is continuing to recover under the care and making his way through the rehabilitation programme. A huge thank you to Head & Head for their support!
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Update - 29th January 2024 : David is currently receiving treatment for his injury. Once the wounds have healed, he can be moved down to the nursery pools to continue his rehabilitation process.
These photos of David were taken on the 27th of January 2024 in the hospital pen number 1.
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Update - 19th February 2024 : Did you hear the amazing Senior Animal Care Specialist Anne talking to Zoe Ball this morning (19th February) on the @BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show? If you missed it, catch up on BBC Sounds!
Anne and Zoe were chatting about one of the seal pups, David Tennant, who has been recovering at the sanctuary for a couple of months now. He is such a character and can be quite grumpy (although in these photos we think it looks like he is singing!)
David is doing really well in his rehabilitation and will be at a good weight to be released soon. If the "real David Tennant" was listening, the Seal Sanctuary would love to invite you to his release down here in beautiful Cornwall!
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| Update - 25th February 2024 : These photos of David were taken on the 25th of February 2024 in the nursery pool 4 and currently weighs 33.5kg. David is ready to be returned back into the wild shortly.
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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.
David, 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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Update - 25th April 2024 : David has been spotted at a seal colony along the coast of Cornwall on 25th April 2024 by members* of the Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust (CSGRT).
*Members of the CSGRT volunteer hundreds of hours of their own time to photo, identify, carry out surveys, monitor and watch over the seals around the Cornish coast.
Each seal´s fur pattern is unique and enables the CSGRT volunteers track them for life.
Seals face many challenges, yet we all depend on them to balance our marine ecosystem. This is essential to make the oxygen we breathe.
Seals are our globally rare wildlife tourist attraction, helping diversify coastal economic prosperity.
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