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During the early hours of this morning Joey the Jersey grey seal pup was transported thanks to the paper boat to Guernsey where he was greeted by Head of Marine Mammals Geoff George.
Rescued by the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) Jersey after reports of a poorly seal pup spotted on Les Écréhous.
Joey at a very thin 18kgs was cared for over night at New Era Vets and transported to Guernsey in the early hours of this morning.
Every Autumn the shores of the Bailiwick see Grey Seal pups being born and the GSPCA are issuing advice today on what to do especially with the rough weather that is due.
Steve Byrne GSPCA Manager said “With the stormy weather due and seal pup season upon us around our shores the GSPCA are asking islanders to be vigilant when around the coast.”
Today a magical moment took place as Andrew the Jersey grey seal pup and Pebbles the Guernsey grey seal pup were returned back to the wild.
Andrew who was a tiny white coat when found in Jersey and rescued by the JSPCA and British Divers Marine Mammal Medics in November 2018 was one of the youngest and smallest pups ever to come into our care at the GSPCA. Last year Andrews progress was incredibly slow and we really worried if he would ever be fit and well enough to be released to the wild and due to his slow progress he is the longest ever seal resident to be in our care.
Pebbles who was rescued in Guernsey 5 months ago and Andrew the Jersey seal pup who is our longest ever seal in rehab at an incredible 19 months are both ready for their release to the wild.
All being well with weather conditions in the next 24 hours, both Andrew and Pebbles will be released back into the wild after an incredible amount of hard work by the team at the GSPCA and especially Geoff George Head of Marine Mammals.
Today at the GSPCA for the first time Pebble the Guernsey seal pup rescued earlier this year and Andrew from Jersey who came in November 2018 got to meet.
The States of Guernsey last week issued advice that two households could come together and here at the GSPCA Andrew and Pebble are now able to share their pools, expanding their social bubbles.
We are pleased to say that Andrew the Jersey grey seal pup rescued over a year ago is nearly ready for the wild but we have one last step to go.
We are hoping when Pebbles the seal pup is ready to introduce them both so they can be released together.
Sadly due to the Coronavirus restrictions it is highly unlikely that we will be able to take a boat to Jersey to release Andrew where he was from with the social distancing rules in both islands.
On the 13th February the GSPCA team were called out to a very poorly seal pup we named Pebbles and we have some great news as she is doing extremely well.
We were all so worried for her when she first arrived and she required around the clock intensive care, but each day she has improved and this week she got her first taste of the outdoors since arriving.
At only 2-3 months of age she is now eating fish well and we are all so pleased with her progress.
It’s been a very busy year for grey seal pups and finally the last two Guernsey pups are ready for the wild.
It is planned to release Mambo and Hannah sometime next week and preparations are currently underway.
Once again we are looking to release both locally rescued pups on Jethou as we did for Sealia and Gully back in May.
All seal pups were extremely emaciated and would have likely perished if they hadn’t of been rescued which include two from Jersey.
After months of care and 3 already released to the wild the 3 remaining seals are on the final stretch to the next part of their journey and life.
Having released Marty back in Jersey as well as Gully and Sealia on Jethou recently we now only have Hannah, Mambo and Andy left in our care.
Hannah and Mambo are doing incredibly well but need their final feeds of herring and mackerel and all donations of fresh fish or towards fish are hugely appreciated to fatten them up before their release very soon.
After months of care and with good weather on our site the GSPCA released Marty the Jersey seal pup back in the wild today and it was without doubt one of the best releases ever for the GSPCA team.
This Winter has been exceptionally busy for seal pups at the GSPCA as up until this morning we have had 6 in our care but thanks to a lovely Jersey family and their boat Marty is now back in the wild.
Marty arrived at the GSPCA on the 17th December just a week before Christmas last year weighing just 18kg when he should have been 40kg.