The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) hotline team received a telephone call from a member of the public who was concerned about a very young whitecoat seal pup.
Lizzi, one of the BDMLR coordinators for Cornwall, said "This whitecoat was first reported on the 9th of May 2025 on the Isles of Scilly and was monitored in the hope mum was still around. Unfortunately, at around 2pm the next day, the pup was seen in a poor condition and uplifted by one of our medics, Lewis, and taken to the local vet and medic, Heike. Weighing only 12.9kg (below birth weight) and with a low temperature and umbilical still attached, she needed to come to the mainland urgently."
Lizzi managed to arrange for Penzance Helicopters Travel Company to collect the seal pup from the Scilly Isles and fly it back to the mainland.
A member of the helicopters´ media team wrote on their facebook page "Today Penzance Helicopters played a very small part in the rescue of a seal pup that had first been spotted on Tresco but eventually rescued on St Mary´s. Our fantastic passengers were spoken to prior to their flight and were more than happy for the seal pup to travel securely in the dog box (we were worried she might not smell too sweet but actually she smelt better than the pilot!). It´s not always about supporting the islands with a lifeline link for people, sometimes we get a curve ball and we are always happy to help. We all wish her a speedy recovery."
Alison, BDMLR marine mammal medics volunteer, met the Penzance helicopter team, on the tarmac at the heliport, she transferred the whitecoat seal pup from the aircraft´s animal travel box to her cage to transport the pup to the Seal Sanctuary in Gweek. By now it was early evening, Anne and Jess, members of the Sanctuary´s Animal Care Team, waited for the arrival of the pup. The Rosevean Veterinary Practice was also called to carry out an assessment of the pup. This pup has been named "Grub".
Update - 14th May 2025 : Grub, is a 2-3 days old female whitecoat seal pup, and currently being fed a blended fish soup every 4 hours to keep up the level of feeding that her mum would have provided, but even so, it is impossible for the team to emulate the nutrient rich and calorie dense milk that ensures pups are able to put on around 1.5kg a day up to their weaning at around 17-21 days.
She is not quite out of the woods yet; and not ready for visitors. The animal care team giving her all the quiet time she needs to rest and heal in the isolation area of the hospital. We´ve got everything crossed for this little lady?? Good luck little one!
Update - 27th May 2025 : This tiny seal pup Grub is doing well and showing promising signs in her recovery journey! Her umbilicus has now closed, which is a great milestone and puts her in good stead as she continues her rehab. She is also moved on to eating whole fish, a big step for a little pup!
That said, Grub is still very, very little, she has a long road ahead and is not out of the woods yet! But for now, the team so proud of her progress and cheering her on every step of the way!
The photo below was taken on the 26th of May 2025.
Update - 8th June 2025 : Grub is starting to learn to eat for herself. She is ripping and chasing her fish but hasn´t quite got the hang of it yet. She currently weighs 13.1kg.
This tiny seal pup was admitted as rescue season starts alarmingly early...click here to read more!
Update - 13th June 2025 : Grub graduated fish-eating school today!
Update - 27th June 2025 : Grub is now feeling so much better now and was moved down to the outside pool for her next stage of rehabilitation. This means she is on the road to recovery and also has a deeper pool to swim in. Grub still needs to get stronger and put on more weight before she can return to the wild!
Grub´s flipper tag ID number is SL329 (yellow).
These photos below were taken on the 26th of June 2025.
Pup update - 1st July 2025 : Grub is progressing very well in the rehabilitation pool and currently weighs 15.8kg. 15kg is the normal weight of a new born whitecoat grey pup, so you can see Grub has a long way to go before she reaches 30kg for the ideal release weight back into the wild.
Pup update - 8th July 2025 : When the animal care team goes in to clean Grub´s pool, apparently she hates them which is a good sign. We do not want the seal pups to interact with people. Don´t laugh...when the pool is being drained during cleaning time, she keeps trying to escape by following the water flow out through the vents, but she is too big!
Update - 12th August 2025 : Earlier this month we said Goodbye to Grub...from arriving unusually early in the season, and making quite the entrance by being flown in by helicopter! This little seal pup has had quite the journey. After months of care and rehab, our super-early starter is finally back where she belongs.
It was strange to watch Grub enter the sea as the waves pounded over her, she was only 2-3 days old when she was separated from her mum and rescued. We did chuckle when Grub spotted a few seagulls above her.
We all wished Grub good luck and waved with tears in our eyes.
Click here to see a selection of these and further photos of her release.
Update - 17th August 2025 : Two weeks after being released back into the wild, Grub was spotted at a haul out along the coast of Cornwall on the 16th of August 2025.
By monitoring the behaviour of seals after release back into the wild, the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, Seal Research Trust and other organisations can use this information to define the best practice standards and policies that they can share with the international rescue community.
Each seal´s fur pattern is unique and enables the organisations to track them for life.
Seals face many challenges, yet we all depend on them to balance our marine ecosystem, which is essential to make the oxygen we breathe.
Seals are our globally rare wildlife tourist attraction, helping diversify coastal economic prosperity.
