Puffa, a female whitecoat seal pup, was rescued on 7th October 2001 from Sennen Cove.   She is probably the fattest pup that we have had to rescue at the sanctuary. The only reason that Puffa had to be rescued was because of public disturbance. She was 1½ weeks of age and should have still been with her mum but people had tried to move and handle her.

If a pup is under three weeks of age and has a white fluffy coat, it should still be with its mum. If a young pup is handled by humans, its mum will not return to feed it for her own safety. On arrival to the hospital, Puffa was also found to have an infected claw so she was put onto a course of antibiotics to help clear the infection, and she had to have a nail removed from her front fore flipper.

Puffa is now doing very well and can be seen in the nursery pool feeding well for herself. Soon she will be moved into the convalescence pool before she is returned to the wild in the spring. Her flipper tag ID number is 79 (yellow).

Update: 1st April 2002 - Puffa was released back into the wild on 26th March 2002 at Church Cove along with Piglet and Baramundi.

Update: 15th January 2025 - Puffa has been seen in the wild by the Seal Research Trust volunteers at various haul-outs around the coast of Cornwall, here are some of dates:-

31st December 2003, 24th January 2004, 28th March 2004, 17th, 20th, 23rd & 24th April 2004, 8th, 9th & 30th May 2004, 19th November 2004, 4th December 2004, 31st December 2004, 30th January 2005, 16th & 25th February 2005, 5th & 19th March 2005, 3rd April 2005, 23rd October 2005, 22nd December 2005, 25th February 2006, Photo credit: Sue Sayer - 25th February 2006

26th March 2006, 6th May 2006, 5th, 14th & 27th January 2007, 14th October 2007, 2nd & 17th February 2008, 13th September 2008, 5th April 2009, 9th December 2009, 27th December 2009, 3rd, 9th & 30th January 2010, 24th February 2010, Photo credit: Sue Sayer - 13th September 2008 - SRT

27th February 2011, 27th February 2012, 7th Jauary 2013, 19th January 2013, 3rd & 20th February 2013, 12th April 2013, 11th January 2014, 27th February 2014, 28th March 2015, 28th January 2016, Photo credit: Sue Sayer - 28th January 2016 - SRT

18th February 2016, 30th April 2016, 9th & 23rd March 2017, 3rd April 2017, 26th October 2017, 1st January 2018, 15th February 2018, 20th June 2020, 4th November 2020, 14th December 2020, 15th November 2021, 10th January 2022, 17th & 24th December 2024 and 15th January 2025.

© Photo Credit: Sue Sayer - SRT - 10th January 2022

It is so incredible that this Amazing Seal has been seen 109 times between 2003 and 2024 around the Cornish coastline.   She was rescued and rehabilitated at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary and released back out into wild in 2002.

Each seal´s fur pattern is unique and enables the SRT volunteers track them for life.   Seals face many challenges, yet we all depend on them to balance our marine ecosystem, this is essential to make the oxygen we breathe.   Seals are our globally rare wildlife tourist attraction, helping diversify coastal economic prosperity.

Read Puffa´s Amazing Story!

We would like to share the amazing story of Puffa who was rescued in 2001 by the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), rehabilitated at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, and released back into the wild in 2002.   The wonderful news is...she is still being ID´d today after 21 amazing years in the wild!!! Healthy and Thriving. By monitoring the behaviour of seals after release back into the wild, the Seal Research Trust, BDMLR and CSS, can use this information to define the best practice standards and policies for rescue, rehab and release that are shared with the international rescue community. Find out more about Puffa´s story click here to read.