Baby Seal Found On Rocks Was So Sick She Almost Died

Bonnie was one of the thinnest gray seal pups ever found by the Guernsey SPCA (GSPCA), a rescue located on an island in the English Channel.

An animal collection officer had been called out to check on a seemingly stranded seal pup along the rocky terrain of a nearby beach in January. It was only upon getting close to her that the extent of Bonnie's condition became shockingly apparent.

At about a week old, Bonnie was just 30 pounds - she should have been closer to 88.

"Not only is the gray seal pup extremely thin," Guernsey SPCA wrote in a blog post at the time, "it has been battered on the rocks, likely separated for some time from its mother and very dehydrated."

She was immediately taken in by the GSPCA's wildlife unit, where the prognosis for the weak, sickly pup was worrying.

Bonnie was given fluids, placed underneath a heat lamp and given around-the-clock care. She had to be tube-fed every two hours. By some miracle, she managed to survive her first 36 hours in human care. But she was still far from fit to return to the wild.

She was introduced to a rehabilitation pool, where she slowly but surely built up her strength both swimming and playing.

After months of tending to Bonnie, getting her back to a healthy weight and good shape, it was time to return her to the ocean.

On the morning of her release on June 24 - jokingly referred to as the #BonnieBrexit - she was pampered with her favorite breakfast: fish.

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She was then all packed up and then taken to nearby Jethou Island.

Bonnie, who was once on the verge of death, showed just how far she had come by speeding out of her carrier once it was opened and hopping right into the water.

"We really didn't think Bonnie would survive and today was very special," Geoff George, an officer with the GSPCA, said in a statement on the day of Bonnie's release. "Bonnie was so thin when we rescued her and to see her swim back where she belongs was fantastic."

Watch this video of Bonnie's glorious return home:

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