This morning Lenie received a telephone call from Hessel Wiegman in Terschelling. By his voice she could immediately tell that something unusual had happened. ‘I found a baby seal on the beach’ said Hessel ‘a tiny little white seal!’
It is unusual to find a baby common seal which still has its white fur. Normally the young loose their white baby fur, which they develop in the womb, during the birth. They need to be able to swim within hours of being born and with the fur this is not possible. Because this baby still has its prenatal baby-fur (lanugo) it means that it has been prematurely born.
Hessel personally brought the young animal, who in the meantime had acquired the name ‘Rijkje’, with speedboat Koegelwieck to Harlingen, where the seal-ambulance was already waiting. At the SRRC Rijkje was found to be a little boy weighing approximately 8 kilo’s. He is now in quarantine and is doing well. It is very rare to find a baby seal so early in the season and never before was the first pup found on Terschelling. Hessel and Rijkje have broken the record!
05-17-2007 Source: SRRC Lenie 't Hart
