Little Seal Stuck In Rocks Was Just Waiting For Someone To Help

When people walking along a beach in England last week noticed a young seal hanging out in some rocks, they thought she was fine. It seemed like she was just perching on the rocks for a while — until finally, it became clear that she was actually very stuck. 

“Normally when seals appear stuck, they will manage to get themselves out, but this poor thing was well and truly trapped,” St. Mary's Seal Watch wrote about the rescue on Facebook. 

After being alerted to the seal’s predicament, rescuers with St. Mary's Seal Watch went out to assess the situation. They assumed that the seal had been trying to cross the rocks after being spooked by something, when she accidentally slid backwards and ended up trapped. She was definitely wedged in there, and everyone knew it was going to take a lot of time and work to get her free again. 

As rescuers gathered around her, the little seal waited patiently, watching as a whole team of people worked together to help her. 

First, rescuers made sure the poor seal couldn’t slip any farther into the hole, and then tried to devise a plan to gently lift her out — which they knew would be easier said than done. 

“We couldn’t just pull [her] out as this could result in injury to either the seal or us,” the rescue wrote. 

Luckily, many of the rescuers had experience dealing with similar situations. After wrapping her face in a towel to reduce injury and stress, they carefully got their hands down into the hole and very gently lifted her out, freeing her at last. 

To everyone’s surprise and delight, the seal appeared to be completely unharmed after her ordeal. Just in case, though, the rescuers had her quickly checked over, and once it was clear that she was healthy and injury-free, they released her back into the wild.

“Luckily this little one was spotted early and with volunteers on site we were able to rescue it swiftly,” the rescue wrote.