A lone baby seal pup has been rescued after being found lying outside the front door by a postman.
The baby seal has been nicknamed ‘Cold Call’ after the postman found her lying outside the front door of a house in Gorleston, Norfolk.
The previous day, the young seal had been spotted in a car park, attempting to get underneath one of the vehicles.
Named Cold Call, the pup was estimated to be between one and two weeks old when it was rescued on 2 January, weighing 11.8kg.
Following its rescue, the seal was transferred to the RSPCA’s East Winch Wildlife Centre, where it is expected to undergo rehabilitation that could last several months.
Severe storms in November left many seal pups separated from their mothers, and Cold Call is now among 31 baby grey seal pups currently being cared for at the centre.
Dan Goldsmith, of Marine and Wildlife Rescue, who brought the pup in, said Cold Call was ‘bright and alert’, adding it had to be looked after before being returned to the wild.
‘There was not a chance the pup could be returned to a local beach’, Mr Goldsmith said. ‘She was significantly underweight for her age, especially as she had started to moult the white coat.’
The pup was estimated to be between one and two weeks old when it was rescued on 2 January, weighing 11.8kg
Following its rescue, the seal was transferred to the RSPCA’s East Winch Wildlife Centre, where it is expected to undergo rehabilitation that could last several months
Evangelos Achilleos, manager at the East Winch Wildlife Centre, said: ‘Sadly, some seals were swept away from their mums in the high tides or some sustained wounds from being hit against rocks’, and that ‘even now, displaced seal pups are still being rescued.’
Cold Call’s ordeal follows an incident last October, when seals had to be rescued by the RSPCA after they swam 30 miles inland to waters near Peterborough and started eating all the local fish.
In this case, the Environment Agency said fish stocks had been seriously depleted since the arrival of the seals, so a licence from Natural England was granted for the seals to be removed for their own health.
Rob Harris, chairman of Peterborough and District Angling Association, said since the seals arrived in the past three years the stock of adult fish in that stretch had declined ‘by about 95%’.
Another seal pup was also dramatically saved from drowning in Norfolk two years ago after being found buried up to its neck in sand on a beach.
The young seal was spotted partially buried in the sand on Waxham beach by a photographer.
With concerns about the tide, volunteer rescuers eventually freed the pup and released it back onto the beach uninjured.
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Lone baby seal pup is rescued after being found lying outside front door by postman