Watch: Bonny seal pup lollops to freedom in Cleethorpes

A volunteer wildlife rescue group in Cleethorpes had a busy Easter Monday with the emergency rescue of a seal pup.

Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue were contacted by Cleethorpes Beach Safety to assist with a seal, who had been washed over the sea wall and was trapped in the eroding slipway at Humberston Fitties Beach. The group contacted British Divers Marine Life Rescue to help with the rescue at around 3.50pm on April 5.

The team went down to the rock pool and covered the head of the seal before lifting him to safety. The adorable pup was put into a seal bag before being taken into the Cleethorpes Beach Safety office to have his minor wounds attended to.

The rescuers covered the pup’s head before lifting him to safety.

The rescue operation underway at Humberston Fitties Beach.

After cleaning and sealing the pup’s wounds with antibiotic spray, he was released back on the beach and made his way out to the tide within an hour of the initial rescue.

The blue spray antibiotics will also help the team identify the pup should it come back onshore.

The seal was lifted to safety to be treated.

Blue spray antibiotics were used to treat the seal pup.

The blue spray antibiotics will also help the team identify the pup should it come back onshore.

Aaron Goss, who is a volunteer at Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue, told The Lincolnite: “It’s absolutely amazing (to be able to rescue and release the animal) and it is the main reason why we do this.

“Sometimes there are cases where we can’t release an animal, but the majority of the time we go by our main ethos of Rest, Rehabilitate and Release. As soon as the seal saw the tide he was happy and started making his way out.”

The Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue team as made up of two main rescuers. Linda Bass has been doing wildlife rescue for over 40 years and 22-year-old Aaron also looks after some of the animals at his home too.

Three other volunteers help the team, along with Abbey Veterinary Centre in Grimsby.

Aaron Goss and Linda Bass (right) with a representative from British Divers Marine Life Rescue.

The team at Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue need your help to raise vital funds.

However, it can be difficult financially for the team. They are currently spending more on vet bills than the money it has coming in. More recently the vet bills have been around £1,000 per month, with around an extra £300 for animal food.

They hope to decrease this by purchasing up to four intensive care incubators. The ones they hope to purchase cost £560 each and you can make a donation towards the cause here. Anyone who wishes to donate offline, or to report an animal needing rescued, should contact 07309 135 987.

The incubators help to regulate temperature and humidity and can be useful if any animal has gone into shock.

The seal was treated and taken into the beach office before later being released back out into the water.

Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue has grown a lot during the coronavirus pandemic as it is now seeing a lot more wildlife, including around 50 birds a month, fox cubs, deer and seals, although the latter doesn’t happen very often.

A Muntjac deer called Spirit is now permanently with the team, living with one of the volunteers and roaming free in the garden. Due to it being an invasive species it cannot be released into the wild.

The team at Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue with representatives from Cleethorpes Beach Safety and British Divers Marine Life Rescue.

Some other animal rescue groups stopped working as much during the pandemic, but Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue decided to take the risk for the sake of the animals.