A SEAL pup discovered on a Jersey beach last year has been released back into the wild amid the ‘busiest’ season faced by rescuers yet.
A team from British Divers Marine Life Rescue recovered the pup – which has since been named ‘Shakespeare’ – in October after it was separated from its mother and washed ashore in St Aubin’s Bay.
It has since been receiving care from Geoff George, head of marine mammals at Guernsey’s GSPCA animals’ shelter, and was recently released back into the wild alongside another pup, Emilia – who was rescued in December in Guernsey.
Mr George said: ‘Each seal pup we rescue takes different lengths of time. It was great after months of care to see Shakespeare and Emilia back in the wild.
‘We have never had such a busy seal pup season and never have we had eight pups at one time like we have had this year.’
He added: ‘Of all the seal pups, Shakespeare – who was rescued in Jersey – is without doubt the loudest seal pup we have ever had.’
GSPCA manager Steve Byrne said: ‘Both [Shakespeare and Emilia] were less than half their body weight and extremely poorly when they arrived. They have had a long road to get better and it was so nice to see them back where they belong.
‘The other four pups – Henny, Echo, Hector and Cleopatra – rescued this season continue to do well and improve daily,’ he added.
He continued ‘In the last decade [and] with today’s release we have rescued and released 27 grey seal pups back into the wild.
‘With young seal pups the main piece of advice is to please not approach them, as you can scare their mother away.’
