An orphaned baby seal spotted by beachgoers on Spetses island in Greece in late August has been rescued by authorities and volunteers and is now recovering well at the Rehabilitation Center of the Hellenic Society for the Study & Protection of the Monk seal (MOm).
The Society was notified of the presence of a newborn Monk seal wandering for three consecutive days without his mother on the western coast of Spetses, moving from beach to beach amid the crowds. The baby seal, eventually nicknamed Alexis, appeared to be desperately searching for his mother.
“We received videos from different locations that made it clear the baby seal was lost and trying to find his mother,” MOm Communications Officer Dimitris Tsakalos told the GreekReporter.
On the third day, the baby seal, which belongs to one of the world’s most endagered species, became too weak to continue swimming and reached shallow waters on a popular beach, where it was rescued by specialists and the local port authorities.
“After three days of monitoring, it was clear that we had to intervene, and we did so with the assistance of the Spetses Port Police Authority, the local veterinarian, and volunteers,” MOm wrote on a Facebook post to announce the rescue on August 23.
Rescued newborn Monk seal healing in care
Initial examinations revealed that Alexis was underweight and dehydrated, but his overall health is not seriously compromised. He begun intensive care, and by September 1 he was out of danger. Nonetheless, he will need to remain in the care of specialists for at least another three months before he is strong enough to be released into the sea, Tsakalos points out.
Monk seals keep their newborns in sea caves and bring them fish to eat until they are strong enough to learn fish hunting. However, it is not unusual to find newborn seals in distress in the Greek seas, the Communications Officer adds.
“This is the case when either something happens to the mother seal and she never returns to their nesting sea cave to feed the baby, or because bad weather has washed the newborn away from the cave in her absence and the mother can’t find them.”
Unable to swim as good as an adult seal, and unfed for days, orphaned newborn seals are helpless. In the case of Alexis, specialists allowed just enough time to make sure both that the mother seal was not coming to his rescue, and that he would still have good chances of survival upon a successful rescue by humans at the time of the intervention.
MOm might come to the rescue of up to five baby seals per year, most of whom won’t make it if intervention comes so late that their blood sugar levels can’t be stabilised, according to Tsakalos.
It is crucial that the public knows who to notify and how to act if they ever spot a lone baby seal.
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