Seals are welcome visitors to Newquay Fish Festival

Cornwall Seal Group were honoured to be invited to have a stand at this year's Newquay Fish Festival. This spectacular event was bathed in warm sunshine and dry weather, so plenty of people turned up to enjoy the festival. A lot of time and effort has been spent gathering information about the seals in Newquay Harbour, which we were keen to share with locals and visitors alike. Annabelle and Chris have regularly taken photos of the seals since April and Sue from Cornwall Seal Group, who has kept records since 2003, assisted with photo identification support. Profiles of each of the 9 seals identified in Newquay harbour were displayed, providing background information on each. Free leaflets, factfiles and a display helped everyone learn more about these beautiful and iconic marine creatures that visit the harbour.

Cornwall Seal Group's stand is a balance of free information about seals in Cornwall and fundraising merchandise (Below)

Cornwall's wild Grey Seals put in a welcome appearance, with 3 of the regularly sighted Newquay seals appearing curious about the flurry of activity on the harbour side.

'Dr Who', an adult male seal (Left) : Swimming freely, 'Dr Who' is now able to fully extend his rear flippers (Right)

'Dr Who' was first identified in Newquay in 2003 and he has been seen 23 times since, both in Newquay and further west on the wild seal haul outs. Subject of a British Divers Marine Life Rescue call out earlier in the year, 'Dr Who' had struggled to swim properly as a result of fishing line wrapped around one of his rear flippers, which he could not fully extend. Marine Mammal Medics successfully removed the fishing line after improvising with rescue kit and being creative in their approach towards the seal. Trunk, also known as Orangina, was a lot more elusive during the fish festival, but her obvious orange colouration makes her unmistakeable. She kept a low and distant profile during the Fish Festival but she took great pleasure in showing off just how well she can swim upside down! First observed in 2003, Trunk has also been observed 23 times in Newquay harbour.

Trunk aka Orangina swimming upside down (Left) : Orangina, recognisable from her overall orange appearance (Right)

Finally, eveyone's favourite seal, vwSplash made an appearance at the Fish Festival. A younge adult male, vwSplash is probably only around 7 year's old, but creates a big impression with his behaviour. He has been identified 30 times in Newquay harbour since 2004.

vwSplash is a hard seal to identify with only a slight white 'v' on the right side of his neck (Left) : Splash's back marks are more distinctive (Right)

Seals in Cornwall face a number of threats in the wild, but there are additional hazards in Newquay harbour. Feeding wild animals may not at first appear to be harmful, but the longer term effects can prove fatal. Boats become linked with food in seals' minds. During the winter months, most of the boats active in the harbour are fishing boats, around which seals are not welcome visitors, with negative impacts for both people and seals. Discarding fish parts from boats and throwing fish to seals from boats makes the situation worse. Please always resist your short term temptation to feed any seals that you see for their long term benefit.

Seals actively beg from boats, but their requests need to be ignored by people (Left) : Splash swimming in the middle of a fume cloud (Right)

Earlier in the year, British Divers Marine Life Rescue and Cornwall Seal Group volunteers responded to help clear up a diesel spill in Newquay after a fire in the harbour. Light grade fuel oil can seriously affect the health of seals by affecting their internal organs. It was somewhat surprising to see vwSplash during the Fish Festival being engulfed in boat exhaust fumes, which he was inhaling and from which he did not move away. At least monitoring the long term health of these seals will increase our understanding of the impact of marine pollution on these creatures.

Many thanks to everyone who came and visited our stall. There is little doubt that the Grey Seals are a major harbour attraction for both visitors and locals. Cornwall Seal Group raised £240 during the 3 day event and would like to thank everyone who helped make the event such a success. Particular thanks to Bentley, Faye, Hannah, Kate, Sue and Sue who looked after the stall and to Derek, Mick and Alan who made us feel so welcome at their festival! Hello and thanks to Newquay WI and Kernow Crepes who had stalls next to us and who were so friendly.

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.