Leech, a 3-4 days old female whitecoat grey pup, was rescued during the afternoon on the 22nd of August 2024 after she was found on the beach at Penhale in Perranporth by members of the public. Volunteer medics from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) were called to go and check on the whitecoat pup to see whether her mum was nearby. So she was monitored for some hours. As there was still no sign of mum nearby and the pup looked sadly all alone on the beach, a decision made by the BDMLR medics to uplift her and transport her to the Cornish Seal Sanctuary where the animal care team could start her treatment.

Photo credit (below) : Lizzi Larbalestier - BDMLR

All new seal pups arrivals at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary have to be tested for avian flu before admittance due to the risk to the resident animals, especially the puffins. Once Leech was settled into the hospital pen, the Sanctuary´s local vet, Head & Head, carried out an assessment of the pup, she weighed 12.5kg which is 3kg less than her birthweight.   She still had her umbilical cord which will fall off in a day or so.   For a week she will be tube-fed 4-6 times a day including nights with liquidised fish soup and then slowly introduced to eating whole fish. Young grey seal pups like Leech, who still have their white coats, are much more vulnerable, which means the specialist animal care team have to take extra precautions in the hospital to ensure they are not stressed and get all the rest they need to put on weight for a healthy recovery.   Good luck little one! These photos below were taken the next day on the 23rd of August 2024 in the hospital.

Update - 30th August 2024 : Leech has sadly passed away on the 28th of August 2024; it is always very sad when one of the rescued pups dies but sometimes these little ones just don´t have enough antibodies and strength in them to pull through, despite the best efforts of all the Sanctuary´s Animal Care Specialists.