Countryfile cover Cornwall's seals at their start of the pupping season

BBC's Sunday night flagship wildlife programme visited Cornwall to film a feature for the start of this year's pupping season. Their aim was to agree plans on the Friday and to film on Saturday, but they were soon to find out that our pupping season in Cornwall rarely goes according to plan! Cornwall Seal Group (CSG) and British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) representatives had just met Katrina and Sangeeta, the Countryfile team, in Newquay, when a rescue call came in about a seal pup in Constantine Bay. Medics Annabelle, Chris, Dave, Lesley and Sue headed off in one car with the Countryfile team in hot pursuit! On arrival at the scene, they were all met by Medic Michelle, who had been out the night before searching for the pup. A medic's first activity is always to assess the rescue situation and the health of the pup. The pup, being observed by a member of the public, was a partly moulted and fat white coat. It was sleeping very close to the waves on a rising tide, near the access point to a busy beach. At the first approach the pup appeared unresponsive, but on our first touch, awoke suddenly and headed for the sea! Michelle, determined not to let the pup get away, was first to grab a towel and immobilise the seal to prevent it disappearing into the ocean, perhaps for good. Lesley and Sue helped Michelle transfer the pup into a seal bag, enabling the pup to be taken away from the water's edge for a proper assessment. Katrina and Sangeeta were glad they had bought a mobile camera kit and captured everything on film.

White coat pup sleeping near the water's edge (Left) : Bagged seal pup as Medics prepare for assessment (Right)

Katrina and Sangeeta from Countryfile (Left) : Dave immobilises the seal for its assessment (Right)

The seal pup was known to have been in the area sleeping for up to 3 days previously, had blood drops around its nose and mouth and had wheezy breathing. This added to the fact that the pup was on a very public beach, frequented by many dog walkers meant the decision was taken, in consultation with National Seal Sanctuary staff, to take the pup to Gweek.

Annabelle and Chris carry the surprisingly heavyweight pup off the beach (Left) : Katrina and Sangeeta watching the footage (Right)

Throughout the rescue the seal pup, probably recently weaned, continued losing his white fur, so by the time he had received his first shower at Gweek, we were able to see his beautiful dark spotty coat in all its beauty. The theme for pup names at the Seal Sanctuary this year is Harry Potter characters, so this infamous young seal film star is now called Dudley!

Seal pup caged ready for his transport to Gweek (Left) : The seal pup in his hospital isolation room shows off his beautiful markings (Right)

The following day was one of those rare cloudless sunny days set to last! Events went more according to plan with BDMLR and CSG members meeting the film crew on location. Faye, (local British Divers Marine Life Rescue Coordinator) and Dave (Charity Director) were joined by Jan and Jude down on a local beach to film a seal pup rescue demonstration with Countryfile programme presenter Matt. Once done, the crew visited a north coast pupping site to film a healthy seal pup 'Citrus' being cared for by her Mum 'Dog and Ball'.

Seal pup Citrus was born right on cue for the Countryfile team, who spotted her first, the day before! (Left) : Citrus fed by Mum 'Dog & Ball' (Right)

Citrus had been born right on cue, the day before filming and had been spotted first by Katrina and Sangeeta during their research and whilst the BDMLR and CSG team had being transporting Dudley to the Seal Sanctuary Animal Care Team! Just 2 days old, Citrus performed like an old pro, calling for Mum to leave the sea to come and feed her - 'Dog and Ball' obliged! The whole film crew seemed genuinely interested in the seals and were won over by Citrus' cuteness!

Matt and Sue taking a breather to enjoy the seals' antics! (Left) : ...& 'Action!' - filming resumes with Katrina & Sangeeta checking footage (Right)

The most important message of the filming for Cornwall Seal Group was advice for the public about how to avoid disturbing the seals at this crucial part of their year. Seals can see and hear people, even over great distances (especially on calm, still days when voices and dog barks travel furthest.) The most important thing to do when watching seals is to take note of their reactions - if the seals are looking at you, you have already attracted their attention and you need to back away slowly out of sight or be very quiet and still until they look away and settle down. Any seal rushing towards the sea has been disturbed and repeated disturbance during a day compromises a seal's energy budget, as they have to use a lot of energy instead of sleeping to digest their food, from which they get energy - a double energy loss for the seal!

Many thanks to the Countryfile team for their sensitive and informative coverage of seals and for putting everyone being filmed at ease.

Cornwall Seal Group are extremely grateful to all their members who volunteer hundreds of hours of their time to watch over the seals around the Cornish coast, especially at pup time! If you would like to support the work of Cornwall Seal Group, you can email sue@cornwallsealgroup.co.uk , to arrange to send a cheque or a contribution via paypal.