Lifeboat crew rescue 'tired' stranded grey seal

5 hours ago

Angela FergusonNorth West

News image — The grey seal was assessed and found to have been tired when it became stranded

RNLI Fleetwood A close-up of a seal's face with a small red patch on its nose. It is looking at the camera while in a cage on the beach. — The grey seal was assessed and found to have been tired when it became stranded

An RNLI crew member was called into action to help a stranded seal spotted by a colleague.

The grey seal was found lying on the slipway for the Fleetwood to Knott-End Ferry in Lancashire on Saturday morning.

RNLI Fleetwood lifeboat member Skip Frith, who also works on the ferry, alerted the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) on his way to a shift at the lifeboat station.

His colleague Aimee Halliwell, who is a trained marine mammal medic, assessed the seal and found it to be tired but alright to be released back into the sea.

RNLI Fleetwood A cream-coloured seal with some darker brown patches on its fur is on a slipway on a beach, with sand and dried grass nearby. — The RNLI Fleetwood team said "it's not just humans we rescue"

A Fleetwood RNLI spokesperson shared news of the rescue on social media, saying: "It's not just humans we rescue."

They said Halliwell was aware her RNLI colleagues were already at the lifeboat station next to the ferry slip for a training exercise and so "she called on her fellow crew members to assist with relocating the stranded seal".

"The volunteer crew helped Aimee to get the seal into a crate and take it to a safe location on the beach next to Fleetwood lifeboat station, where the seal was released to make its own way back into the water," they said.

The BDMLR medics put an orange marker on the seal to help with tracking its whereabouts or in the event of it reappearing back onshore.

Fleetwood RNLI A seal is making its way across the sand to the sea, with several members of the rescue team watching nearby. — The seal was released back out to sea after being checked over by experts from the BDMLR

They urged anyone finding a live stranded marine mammal to contact the BDMLR.

A spokesperson for BLMDR said people should "keep [their] distance to avoid causing further stress to the animal and to protect [themselves] from potential injury or disease".

People and dogs need to be kept away to prevent further distress to the animal and no attempts should be made to push the animal back in the sea, they added.

"Marine mammals often strand for a reason, for example, they are sick, injured or disoriented, and a professional medic needs to assess the animal's health and determine the best course of action," they said.

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