29 sees 'Red' on the island

Thick mist engulfed the whole of the island when I arrived to survey the seals at low tide. A few seals swam around the 'Washing Machine' but with visibility below 100m, there was no sign that an island even existed. Should I stay or should I go? How persistent would the mist prove to be? There was plenty of wind blowing from the sea landwards fueling my hope that the mist would clear. I could hear the seals. I just couldn't see them - their frequent howls seeping eerily through the mist as they reorganised their positions on the ledges. I was tempted to leave, but just kept hanging on instead. Suddenly a line appeared in the mist - the rock ledges in front of the island. Then I could see a few seals - their wet backs glistening. More rock appeared and the base of the lighthouse became visible. Within a minute I could see 1, 2, 3 windows up the lighthouse and before long we were all bathed in bright sunshine. With the seals now in view, I began doing ID work - trying to spot which seals were hauled out. The video camera I use on my telescope (digiscope with) has a black and white view finder, so I missed the seal with the yellow hat to start with (so clearly seen on the playback in the comfort of my own home.) But as the hatted seal moved to another haul out position, I realised it was there. I filmed frantically, as the hat number was not legible through the telescope alone and it is hard to hold the video kit still enough to read the number confidently. If I'd been forced to guess the number, I would have said '29', but I wasn't sure. I didn't even know if I'd be able to read the number when I played back the film I was taking. At home, I was greatly relieved to find that a frame by frame playback produced a few photos that confirmed the number conclusively. This was '29'! A few texts and emails later, I realised that I had helped to rescue this young seal back in October 2004 and had been a member of the team that had taken her back the Seal Sanctuary at Gweek. '29' was 'Red', a young female seal who had been released in February 2005. Sporting a plain pale brown coat, I was delighted to see that 'Red' had made a successful return to the wild after her rehabilitation at the National Seal Sanctuary.

A dehydrated and underweight 'Red' before rescue (left) : 'Red' arrives at the Seal Sanctuary (Mid left) : 'Red' hauled on the island (Mid right) : Hat 29 - a successful release back to the wild (Far right.)

25/06/05