The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) hotline team received a telephone call on the 7th of April 2025 from a member of the public who was concerned about a very young seal pup at Polpeor Cove Lizard.
Dan, the BDMLR area coordinator, arranged for local volunteer marine mammal medic, Kirk, to check on the seal. He was met by Tamara, the Curator from the Cornish Seal Sanctuary.
Kirk said "The pup looking a fair size was resting around the corner from the old lifeboat station. He was alert when aware of our presence. Tamara was confident the pup had a respiratory issue, most likely lungworm. The decision was made to convey the pup to Cornish Seal Sanctuary for further assessment. Tamara magnificently jumped this large, strong and now fully alert seal who didn´t seem to appreciate our intervention. The crate was manoeuvred in front and we managed to "encourage" the sprightly fella in.
On closer examination the seal had numerous minor wounds as well as the respiratory issue."
Kirk continues "On arrival at Seal Sanctuary´s hospital, the pup had a temperature of 37.6°C and weighed around a hefty 40kg! No wonder I was huffing and puffing carrying 51kg a distance uphill!" Kirk also works at the Seal Sanctuary in Gweek.
Scorpion, a 6-8 months old male grey seal pup, was found to have a severe respiratory infection, likely caused by lungworm, making breathing quite difficult. Also has some minor wounds to his flipper. The vet has prescribed a wormer along with some supportive treatments which will help him to clear the worms and hopefully make Scorpion feel better very soon. For now, Scorpion needs lots of rest to recover.
Update - 19th April 2025 :
Scorpion is responding well to the prescribed course of lung worm treatment. Once he feels better, Scorpion will be moved to the outside pools to complete his rehabilitation. For the time being, he is receiving lots of TLC from the animal care team.
Update - 24th April 2025 : Scorpion spent just a few of weeks in the hospital before he was moved down to the outside pool earlier today for his next stage of rehabilitation. This means he is on the road to recovery and also has a deeper pool to swim in. He is doing very well and it will not be too long before Scorpion is released back out into the wild. Click here to see a selection of photos of Scorpion.
His flipper tag ID number is SL328 (yellow).
Scorpion heads home as pup season comes to a close!
Update - 30th April 2025 : Our final pup of the season, Scorpion, made his return to the wild on the 30th of April 2025. Rescued on the 6th of April 2025 from the Lizard with a respiratory infection, likely caused by lungworm, this chunky pup weighed an impressive 40kg, already 10kg over our usual release target. After just a short three-week stay in the Sanctuary´s hospital to recover, he was fit, healthy, and ready to head back to sea.
Thanks to your support, Scorpion is now back where he belongs!
It was a very special emotional moments for Kirk along with Tamara and Sean who had rescued Scorpion from the Lizard...as they waved him goodbye.
Click here to see a selection of these and further photos of their release.
