A newborn seal was in a life-and-death struggle at the Ogden Point breakwater Tuesday when a father and daughter stepped in to help.
The seal was in the water, exhausted by unsuccessful attempts to get onto a rock, said Mark Levagood of Langford.
“There was a baby seal trying to get himself upon the rocks and he tried and tried and tried,” Levagood said Tuesday.
He and his daughter, Madison, and a number of other spectators saw the seal had an umbilical cord attached and realized it was newly born.
“The mother was nowhere to be found,” he said.
The young seal finally lay sideways on the water, lifting its head to get breaths of air.
Levagood phoned the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and was put in touch with mammal rescuers on Saltspring Island.
He was told to take the seal out of the water, dry it off and wait for help to arrive.
In half an hour, a helicopter arrived at the Ogden Point parking lot to take the seal to the Vancouver Aquarium.
The seal seemed to be injured, and couldn’t move its back flippers, Levagood said. “He was in bad shape.”
Madison “was right involved and helping out,” he said.
“Once it was over, we just sat and looked at each other and said, ‘That’s not something you see every day.’ ”
There was no immediate word on the seal’s condition.
What to do if you find a seal pup
It’s not unusual for seals to leave their pups alone for short periods. If you see a pup on its own:
Do
- Stay at least 100 metres away and watch to see whether the mother comes back
- Keep dogs away from the pup
- Take note of the seal’s condition: Does it have any visible injuries? Is it breathing? Is it vocalizing? Are there other seals in the area? Is it responding to its environment?
Don’t
- Try to coax or push the seal into the water
- Approach the animal
- Capture or care for it yourself
Signs a baby seal may need help
- The seal is obviously injured
- You know the pup is an orphan (a dead parent can be seen)
- The seal has been alone for several hours without a parent visible
- The pup is seriously underweight
- It appears distressed or non-responsive
How to get help for a baby seal
- Vancouver Island: Call the B.C. SPCA Wild Animal Rehabilitation Centre (Wild ARC) at 250-478-9453
- Gulf Islands: Island Wildlife Natural Care Centre, 250-537-0777
- Rest of B.C.: Vancouver Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Rescue Centre, 604-258-7325
Source: B.C. SPCA
