Fitting back into seal society

Our weekly visit to the Océanopolis’  seal rescue centre to see Mignon was again a real pleasure last week, she had been well enough to have been placed in a pool with two other seals of about her age and weight, and was clearly trying to find her feet again with others after having been washed up on a beach three weeks previously and spending time by herself in a pen. Today we could clearly see that she had settled in well, knew the ropes, and was not being bullied by the other seals. In fact, a fourth seal had made sufficient recovery to have joined her and her pool-mates. Now it was the turn of the new seal to find her feet with the others.

Since our last visit Mignon had put on 1.5 kgs and now weighed in at 21.5 kgs. We watched her feed on raw whole herring, the carers taking the time to make sure that each seal got his or her share of the bucket of fish. This is easier said than done as, even with only four seals in the pool, there is still always a lot of jostling and pushing among the seals to get the fish. In the confusion of splashing, and mere glimpses of sleek bodies and flippers it’s difficult to see who got the fish. Nevertheless, the carers always seem to get it right and by the time the bucket is empty, each seal has had it’s required amount of fish.

In the 20 or so years that the centre has operated, the survival rate of rescued seals has steadily increased. Always at around 80 percent, the rate over the last few years has been 100 percent.

Photo:
Mignon jumps up to see who is visiting her.