Seal Sanctuary

There are many seal sanctuaries located around the UK including The Seal Sanctuary in Mablethorpe, , The National Seal Sanctuary in Cornwall, and Natureland Seal Sanctuary in Skegness.

These seal sanctuaries help to rescue injured and often orphaned seals and nurse them back to health. Many will have wounds or cuts on them or damage to their flippers and therefore will require treatment at the sanctuary to help gain strength and bodyweight. Seals are also at risk due to chemical pollution and people discarding old ropes, nets and fishing lines which the seals may then become entangled in.

Once rehabilitated they are then either released back into their natural habitat or will find a permanent home at the seal sanctuary. Many sanctuaries have specialised equipment and hospital facilities to be able to lovingly care for the seals that may come to them, including convalescing pools for the seals to help them prepare for their release back into their natural environment.

You may be surprised to learn that many of these seal sanctuaries, in particular Mablethorpe, will also offer care to other forms of native wildlife such as foxes, badgers, owls, kestrels and mice

An important feature of many seal sanctuaries is education. The majority of sanctuaries are open to the general public so that they can come and see the seals and learn more about them and how they would live in the wild. This is an important feature since it can encourage more people to take an interest and to be aware of the issues that effect the seal population.

Many of these sanctuaries also rely on the generosity of the public to be able to fund ongoing improvements and keep the sanctuaries running. Adopting one of the seals at a sanctuary is a great way of helping individual seals to make the best recovery possible and is a good way of encouraging people to take an interest and make them feel involved.