Lahinch Seaworld Co.Clare Aquarium

Seal Pup found on Lahinch beach

In mid-January, Lahinch Seaworld received reports of a seal in distress on the local beach. After searching the area, Alex Stewart, the senior aquarist at Lahinch Seaworld, located a small common seal pup by the Liscannor Bridge. He transferred her to our quarantine unit and contacted the Exploris Aquarium and Seal Sanctuary in Portaferry, Co. Down. It was agreed that we would transfer the seal to their seal sanctuary for further care and rehabilitation. She was transported by van within a week and quickly settled into her new home. She was named “Madame Pince” (they have a Harry Potter theme in the seal sanctuary this year) and upon arrival she was given a full medical examination. She was only 12 kg, and unable to feed or fend for herself. She was treated for worms; a small identity implant was placed into the back of her neck, she and went through a rehabilitation routine as follows: · Isolation to check for further disease and to avoid undue stress. · Force-feeding of a liquidised herring mixture (as a substitute for her mother’s milk), over several weeks to increase her weight. · Her pen was slowly flooded to teach her how to swim. · Once she had learned how to swim, she was transferred to the main outside enclosure to join the other seals. · Finally she was taught how to catch live fish for herself. Over this time she was closely monitored and it was eventually decided that she was fit for release back into the sea. Her release date was planned for Thursday the 7th May 2004. Two members of staff from Lahinch Seaworld attended the release, Tim Forde and Denise Byrne. On the morning of her release Madame Pince said a final goodbye to her companion seals and was removed from the pond in a “sling” and weighed. Her weight was a healthy 45kg, which is suitable for release (seals normally have to be between 45-50kg before they are released). She was placed into a large carrier container and put into the transport van. We then bought her to the nearly shore of Strangford Lough. This is suitable for release as it is well stocked with fish and there is also a small resident seal population there. After a last few photos, she was released from her container and onto the beach. She quickly made her way to the water, and then across the lough towards the open sea. Our last sighting of her was bobbing around, swimming against the tide in the lough. Madame Pince was the 114th seal to be released from the seal sanctuary at Exploris since it opened in 1989. All of the seals at the seal rehabilitation centre, including Madame Pince have a small implant device inserted into the back of the neck. This is an identity tag, so that if a seal that was treated at Exploris ever washes up again, either dead or in distress, its case history is on file. There are more and more seals rehabilitated in her centre each year, and this is believed that this is not due to an increase in the seal population, but instead due to an increase in public awareness of seals in Ireland. Seal care and rehabilitation (ongoing through most of the year but peaks during seal pupping seasons: January for the common seal and May for the grey seal)
Guided tours at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm and Public feeds at 3pm and 5pm.during the summer months

Group and Family rates available