Rescue takes place as ‘Frankie’ the two week old harbour seal pup gets stranded on busy Prestatyn beach

Rhyl Coastguard Rescue Team coordinated a rescue of a two week old harbour seal pup stranded on Prestatyn beach.

At 11:20am yesterday morning the Rhyl CRT were tasked by Holyhead Coastguard Operations Centre to provide support to RNLI Lifeguards North Wales following discovering a harbour seal pup coming ashore and possibly being injured. Due to the beach being very busy, the seal pup, who did not wish to return to the water was drawing a large crowd of spectators.

Also in attendance was North Wales Police.

The Coastguard team say, “Due to having no capability of assisting the pup, the team have requested assistance from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) who have Marine Mammal Medics. The medics are trained and experienced in handling marine mammals such as seals, porpoises and whales and are able to assist in such instances in either returning to the water or transporting for medical treatment.”

The pup had been named ‘Frankie’ by crews, who described him or her as “a stubborn individual who refused to return to the water”, adding that behaviour indicated “something was clearly medically wrong”. Given the age, and presenting as underweight, the medics have decided to remove Frankie from the location for medical assessment/treatment.

They added, “We hope Frankie makes a full recovery and gets returned to the wild 😊”

General advice has been given out on what to do if you find a seal…

• Do not approach, watch from a distance.
• Do not attempt to handle, they may have cuts which are infected. The bacteria can make you ill.
• Seals are wild animals and although they may look cute, they may act unpredictably and attempt to defend themselves.
• Keep children and dogs away from them.
• Seals regularly haul out on our coast, it is part of their normal behaviour, in fact they spend more more time out of the water digesting food and resting than in it.
• Finding a seal on the beach is not necessarily a problem as it is likely to be resting.
• A healthy seal should be left alone and not chased back into the sea.
• Likely issues are abandonment (however mum may be hunting nearby so don’t approach and watch from a distance), malnutrition, sick or ill health and entanglement with fishing gear.

If you see a seal that may be abandoned, thin, ill or injured, then call for advice and assistance:

BDMLR RESCUE HOTLINE:
01825 765546 (24hr)
or
RSPCA hotline (England & Wales): 0300 1234 999

(Images via Rhyl Coastguard team)