Seal Rescue Ireland is a conservation non-profit, headquartered in County Wexford, Ireland. According to the ''

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

'', its main work includes "rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing orphaned and sick

seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

from across the country."

History

Both common and

grey seals The grey seal (''Halichoerus grypus'') is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or "earless seals". The only species classified in the genus ''Halichoerus'', it is found on both shores of the Nort ...

are cared for by a team of volunteers at its seal visitor and rehabilitation centre in

Courtown Courtown () is a village in County Wexford, Ireland. It was developed after Earl of Courtown, Lord Courtown ordered the construction of a harbour during the Famine years, 1839–1846. The economic boost of the new harbour led to a small village ...

, County Wexford. In 2019, it restored Courtown Woods. In January 2020, it advocated for closing a beach in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

for nine months out of the year to protect a colony of seals. In the same month, they noted that rare seals, usually found in the Arctic, were appearing off the coasts of Cork and Kerry and they reduced their first, and so far only,

arctic ringed seal The Arctic ringed seal (''Pusa hispida hispida'') is a subspecies of ringed seals (''Pusa hispida''). Arctic ringed seals inhabit the Arctic Ocean, and are the most abundant and wide-ranging seal in the Northern Hemisphere. The ringed seal specie ...

. As of May 2020, its CEO was Melanie Croce and it had 1.2 million followers on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

. In February 2021, it launched a marine conservation virtual learning tool in collaboration with

SSE Renewables SSE Renewables is a renewable energy subsidiary of SSE plc, which develops and operates onshore and offshore wind farms and hydroelectric generation in the United Kingdom and Ireland. History In October 2009, SSE announced that Airtricity woul ...

. It began to collaborate with Orca Ireland and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), sharing their database of dead seals in order to attain a better understanding of the causes of seal deaths. Injured or orphaned seal pups in Seal Rescue Ireland's care are comforted by "fake mums" which are made from old wetsuits. The "wetsuit mums" are designed to look and feel like adult seals. They are placed with the orphaned pups in the centre's intensive care unit. Seal Rescue Ireland adopted the use of " Ecobricks", a building material consisting of plastic bottles which are tightly packed with soft plastics. The bricks have been used by to make furniture, such as stools. Seal Rescue Ireland hosts Marine Conservation Roadshows and school tours to educate schoolchildren on threats to seals and ways to reduce them.

References

{{reflist Animal conservation organizations Wildlife rehabilitation and conservation centers