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VIDEO: Brave volunteers rescue seal from certain death

By Andrew Clark

September 23 2015, 3:23 pm

The volunteers cut the seal free from the rope which was tightly wrapped four or five times around its neck

A team of volunteers have released a traumatic but touching video showing the seal rescue they describe as the hardest they have ever undertaken.

The SSPCA alerted the Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary, Shetland to a seal caught in a creel rope on Sunday morning.

Volunteers from the SSPCA and the wildlife sanctuary went out to help the seal but returned to shore when they realised they were going to need a bigger boat.

After finding a boat big enough and recruiting a team of helpers up to the challenge, the group went back out to try to save the seal.

After a dramatic struggle involving a diver in a wetsuit and a number of others on the boat, the group finally got the seal on board and were able to cut her free and save her life.

In a post on the wildlife sanctuary’s Facebook page, the volunteers explained: “It was a fully grown female grey seal, who was hugely stressed, terrified and panicking as we closed in on her. We too were terrified when we tried to cut the rope, as she was thrashing so much and trying to bite us – one bite with those teeth could have done a lot of harm.

“But we covered her head with a towel, which stopped her thrashing and eventually managed to cut the rope and set her free. What a fantastic feeling!”

What a way to spend Sunday afternoon – it must have been the hardest seal rescue we've ever been faced with. Terresa from the SSPCA rang in the morning to tell us that Martin Garrick from Sandness had alerted her to a seal caught in a creel rope. She went out with Martin to size up the situation, but his boat was not big enough to carry out a rescue, so with the help of several friends from the west side Terresa made contact with Sean Williamson from West Burrafirth who proved to be the perfect boatman for the job. We met them at Bousta and set off around 4pm to motor out to the Holm of Melby in Sean's creel boat 'Emeritus', which took about half an hour. It took another half an hour to spot the seal as it would only surface for a moment before diving again. When we finally saw it, the creel rope was really tightly wrapped four or five times around its neck. But the rope was about five fathoms long so it could swim quite a long distance before it surfaced again. Terresa donned her wet suit and snorkel and dived in to try and find the rope – an almost impossible task under these conditions. She did eventually find it, by which time Martin had joined us in the search. Terresa tried to use a swan hook to grab hold of the rope, while Martin tried to grab it with a grappling hook. However it was Sean who finally managed to get hold of the rope with his grappling hook and used his winch to haul the poor creature in to the side of the boat so we could cut the rope and set it free. It was a fully grown female grey seal, who was hugely stressed, terrified and panicking as we closed in on her. We too were terrified when we tried to cut the rope, as she was thrashing so much and trying to bite us – one bite with those teeth could have done a lot of harm. But we covered her head with a towel, which stopped her thrashing and eventually managed to cut the rope and set her free. What a fantastic feeling! So thank you everyone who helped with this remarkable rescue, especially Terresa, whose actions were over and above the call of duty (she deserves a medal); Martin, who alerted everyone and came out to help not once but twice; Sean who kindly gave up his Sunday afternoon to help; and not forgetting our volunteer David who filmed the whole thing. What a team, what a relief and what a lucky escape for the seal!

Posted by Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary on Sunday, 20 September 2015