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Public praised for responsible action over seal pup at Collieston beach


By David Porter

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The Buchan Ranger Service has praised locals for their patience at a local beach after a young seal pup proved to be the centre of attention.

A Seal pup joined locals on Collieston beach. Picture courtesy of Aberdeenshire Ranger Service/John Henderson.
A Seal pup joined locals on Collieston beach. Picture courtesy of Aberdeenshire Ranger Service/John Henderson.

A spokesman for the service said: "On Sunday a young common seal pup decided to haul up on Collieston beach first thing in the morning.

"The visitors had started arriving, the forecast was for a warm sunny day and it was expected that a lot more visitors would be arriving soon.

"Local residents, including a trained marine mammal medic, were quickly on the scene and marked off an area to keep people and dogs away from the pup so it wasn’t disturbed.

"Lots more visitors arrived throughout the day and all were incredibly patient and understanding as locals asked them to stay away from the pup, keep dogs away, and stay out of the sea in case the pup decided to return to the water.

"It didn’t - as the tide came in the pup moved further and further up the beach.

"After about four hours, during which the large number of visitors continued to show incredible patience and understanding, the pup was obviously not going back into the sea anytime soon and mum wasn’t coming in to get it.

"It was decided that visitors would be able to enter the sea from half the beach and the pier and not cause the pup too much disturbance.

"I think everyone was delighted as it was rather hot and they had been waiting so patiently, just because the local residents had asked them to.

In the evening the local British Divers Marine Life Rescue Co-ordinator arrived on scene and assessed the pup.

For various reasons it was decided to uplift her and she was taken by a trained marine mammal medic to be transferred to the seal rehabilitation centre.

There she will be fully assessed, given any treatment needed, fed and released when she is able to fend for herself.

He added: "So, if you were on Collieston beach and waited patiently for hours to get in the sea then thank you so much."

It is quite normal for seals and pups to haul up on beaches however this is unusual for Collieston as it is normally busy and avoided by seals.

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