Elvis the seal pup lucky to be alive
- By Elaine Bird
- 09 July 2019
- Snettisham
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A seal pup found on Snettisham beach is lucky to be alive thanks to the correct and speedy response from a member of the public.
Jo Allen, originally from Bedfordshire, was enjoying an early morning walk with her dog when she spotted a tiny Common Seal pup lying all alone at the top of Snettisham beach. With the tide out and clear blue skies it would have been hours before the pup received any respite from the heat.
"I knew immediately the little chap needed some help and specialist care, his eyes looked dry and sore and he was so skinny you could see his bones’’ said Jo.
"I started calling animal rescue groups trying to find someone who would be able to help, while I stayed with him as I was worried about his health’’ she added.
Luckily Hunstanton Sea Life were quick to respond and despatched a member of their specialist animal care team.
"I was just getting up in the morning and thinking about what I needed to get done as I had friends coming over in the afternoon and had planned to take the day off from work, when I saw the alert come through on my phone’’ said Jemma McGuinness from the Sea Life Hunstanton animal care team.
"Even though it was my day off I knew everyone would be really busy at Sea Life getting ready to open so I told everyone I would go and check the little pup out’’ she added.
The tiny pup was very dehydrated, extremely thin and malnourished; weighing only 7.5kg he was lighter than a typical healthy new-born common seal pup. He would almost certainly have perished if it he had been left on the beach.
The weak and tired little seal was taken to the seal rescue hospital at Hunstanton SEA LIFE where further examinations were performed.
"I didn’t want to raise my hopes too much when I first saw him, he was just so skinny and his eyes were sunken and very dry, but after listening to his heart and his lungs which sounded really strong and clear I thought to myself that all this little chap needs is some love and TLC. It was Jo who named him, our theme this summer is singers and musicians, so she chose Elvis, after her dog’’ said Jemma.
For the past five days Elvis has been under the specialist care of the seal rescue team and has already made a remarkable turnaround, putting on over 2kg in weight.
Jemma believes that if it hadn’t been for a vigilant and caring member of the public who did everything right the outcome could have been very different.
"Sometimes we get reports of seal pups when people return home and try to explain to us where the seal pup is located – this can lead to us searching lengths of coastline and sometimes returning having not found the animal’’ stated Jemma.
"Jo was able to give us an exact location and she stayed with the pup waiting for us to arrive and was able to signal to me by waving as I was approaching’’ she added.
Staff from SEA LIFE Hunstanton are keeping Jo updated with the progress of Elvis and as a special thank you will be inviting her to join them for his release to sea once he is ready.
Article courtesy of Sea Life Hunstanton.