Meringue was rescued on 4th September 2025 Meringue, a 2-3 days old female whitecoat grey seal pup, was rescued on the 4th of September 2025 from Widemouth beach near Bude by Sara and Paul, British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) marine mammal medic volunteers.   She was found on a busy beach exhausted after being washed around in the rough seas and separated from mum. Sara, BDMLR volunteer medic, said "Paul and I monitored the pup for a while.   The beach was busy with people and dogs.   Some of the dogs, we had to chase away, as they were getting too close to the seal as they were off the lead.   Because of this and as there was no sign of mum at all, it was decided to uplift it and take it to the hospital to be looked after.   We would normally leave the seal pup and monitor it and hope mum would come back but is was not safe for this little one." The BDMLR medics transported the pup to a local veterinary practice in Bude for the night to stabilised her before she was transferred the next morning to the Cornish Seal Sanctuary in Gweek for her care and rehabilitation. Photos Credit : Sara Diacopoulos - BDMLR Upon arrival at the Seal Sanctuary´s hospital, the local vet was called to carry out an assessment of the pup and prescribed a course of antibiotics.   She had superficial ulcers in both eyes and a fresh umbilicus which meant the pup was less than 3 days old. She is 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. Young grey seal pups like Meringue, who still have their white coats, are much more vulnerable, too, which means the team have to take extra precautions in the hospital to ensure the pups are not stressed and get all the rest they need to put on weight for a healthy recovery.   This is why for the first few days, pups will spend time in the quiet area of the hospital to rest. Pup Update : 19th September 2025 - Meringue´s eyes are now healed and have started being fed whole fish which she loves!   She is gaining weight but still occasionally feels the cold so sometimes needs a heat lamp on in her hospital pen.   Once she is big enough, Meringue can have supervised swims to prepare her for moving to the outdoor pools for her next stage of rehabilitation.   So for the time being, Meringue is getting lots of TLC from the animal care team in the hospital. Pup Update : 17th October 2025 - Meringue was moved down to the outside pool on 16th of October 2025 for her next stage of rehabilitation.   This means she is on the road to recovery and also has a deeper pool to swim in.   She currently weighs 18kg. Her flipper ID tag number is SL331 (yellow). Click here to see a larger version of this photo below of Meringue taken on the 16th of October 2025. Pup Update : 7th November 2025 - Meringue is slowly putting on weight in the nursery pool.   This photo below was taken on the 5th of November 2025. 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. Pup Update : 14th November 2025 - This photo below of Meringue was taken on the 11th of November 2025 in the rehabilitation pool. She is currently sharing this rehabilitation pool with two other rescued seal pups, S´mores and Todd.   Meringue currently weighs 23.3kg. Pup Update : 3rd December 2025 - This photo below of Meringue was taken on the 2nd of December 2025 in the rehabilitation pool.   She has been joined by other rescued seal pups, Waffle, Sorbet, Todd, Flapjack and Treacle Tart. Pup Update : 12th December 2025 - Meringue loves laying on the side of the pool. The animal care team weigh the pups every few days to make sure they are growing properly and track their progress.   Once they have reached 30kg, the pups can be returned to the wild! Pup Update : On 23rd of December 2025 the Cornish Seal Sanctuary released their next 3 rescued seal pups, Meringue along with Todd and Waffle, of the 2025/26 rescue season were ready to go home for Christmas. Each rescued seal pup is weighed every week to find out who has reached the ideal target weight of 30+kg. Meringue, Todd and Waffle were weighed and loaded into the back of the two vehicles from the rehabilitation pool and released back into the wild.   They confidently made their way into the surf and disappeared beneath the waves; a heart-warming moment that marks the successful end of their rehabilitation journey.   We all wished them good luck and waved with tears in our eyes.