Sand Hopper, a 12 weeks old female grey seal pup, was rescued on the 10th of December 2024 from Trevaunance Cove near St Agnes by the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) volunteer marine mammal medics.
She was found exhausted, malnourished, and underweight with infections and swelling to her front flippers.
A decision was made to take this pup to the BDMLR´s seal hospital in Cornwall for initial treatment and care until a pen was available on the 20th of December 2024 for her at the Sanctuary´s hospital at Gweek where she continues her rehabilitation journey.
Update - 26th December 2024 : Swelling in Sand Hopper´s front right flipper persisted despite treatment, x-ray showed Osteomyelitis. The Animal Care Team are waiting for the swelling in her front right flipper to heal fully before she is moved from the hospital to the outside pools.
These photos below were taken on 26th December 2024 in the hospital.
Update - 5th January 2025 : Sand Hopper is now using her flipper well so she 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.
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.
Sand Hopper´s flipper tag ID number is SL318 (yellow).
These photos below were taken on the 5th January 2025 in the nursery pool number 3.
Update - 11th February 2025 : These photos of Sand Hopper below were taken in the rehabilitation pool on the 11th February 2025.
Update - 27th February 2025 : Sand Hopper along with Fritillary have completed their rehabilitation and were released back into the wild on the 27th of February 2025.
