EXPLORIS Aquarium and Seal Sanctuary released its last seals of the season at Knockinelder beach as many gathered to wish goodbye to Briar and Bramble. The seals also received a performance of the Seal Shanty by Ballywalter Primary school as many turned out to see Briar and Bramble make their way back to the sea.
These two seals are the 587th and 588th seals successfully released by the team at Exploris over the years. Exploris are on hand to help seals along any part of the northern coastline and work has already begun to help this new season of seal pups.
The aquarium rescued its first seal pup, Milliken, a harbour seal from Greyabbey in June 1990. Throughout the thirty-four years since then, Exploris Seal Sanctuary has rescued and released seals from around the coast that would have otherwise died.
Seal pups can be abandoned by their mothers for a variety of reasons but one of the reasons is that they sense a threat to their young ones and flee trying to divert attention. They will return only when it is safe to do so. This is where things can go wrong.
One of the biggest issues in this situation is when people try to intervene. Young seals can be moved or interfered with in some other way, and this can mean the mother never returns. When this happens, a young seal has little chance of surviving without intervention. This is where Exploris comes in.
Exploris monitor a pup for 24 hours ensuring that the seal has been abandoned, if this is the case, only then will they intervene and attempt to rescue the pup. Once rescued the pup will spend time “fattening” up and learning how to fish in the pools within Exploris. On average, seals spend around six months in rehabilitation, though some will spend longer and some will be quicker learners and released much sooner.
One of the reasons why Exploris has decided to have public seal releases is to help raise awareness of the correct way to approach a potentially abandoned seal pup, which has proved a great way to encourage engagement with local people and from further afield.
Spreading this message is what inspired the Seal Shanty, a collaboration between Exploris’s Conservation and Education officer, Blair Bailie, and Ballywalter Primary School’s performing arts club.
Blair explains: "I’m always trying to think of new ways to let people know what to do when they see a seal pup on the beach, and the idea of a ‘seal shanty’ had been in the back of my mind for a while.”
The Seal Shanty can be seen on Exploris’s Facebook and main refrain offers great advice if you see a seal potentially in distress: “Don’t get close. Call the Pros!” Exploris can be contacted on 028 4272 8062 and simply follow the instructions to get through to the seal rescue team.
