Seal pup found in garden after Storm Chandra

A seal pup has been rescued and returned to the sea after it was found in a garden following Storm Chandra.

The juvenile seal was found beside a chicken coop in a private garden at St Loy near St Buryan, Cornwall, on Wednesday, following the stormy weather earlier in the week and subsequent floods.

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said it had received a call from a resident to say the seal pup had escaped from the rough seas, left the beach, made it across the coastal path and squeezed under a gate into the garden.

Dan Jarvis, from the organisation, said the seal was found about 100m (328ft) from the beach but seemed "pretty content" and was later released back into the sea.

Jarvis said he predicted the seal to be about five to six months old.

He said on visual assessment, there was a "little concern that it was on the thin side", but he said after a physical assessment "everything was ok".

He said the seal did not need to be taken in for rehab but "wouldn't be a good idea" for it to remain in the garden due to nearby domestic animals.

"Also, given the size of the field it had ended up in, we were also worried it wouldn't make it back to the beach on its own."

Jarvis said due to the stormy conditions, there were concerns about releasing it back onto the beach nearby without it getting hurt, so it was relocated to a different, more sheltered, and safer beach for release.

The BDMLR Cornwall seal hospital had 31 pups through in an "incredibly busy" December, Jarvis added, but said in January, despite the stormy weather, it had been "relatively kind for us".

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