For years it has been a tradition on Terschelling to release seals on Hessel Wiegman (seal first-aider and seal rescuer extraordinaire)’s birthday. This is why Lenie ‘t Hart went to Terschelling on April 29th with the seals Lanvin and Jesse, to release them there and to eat a piece of birthday cake. That part of the birthday party went as expected; the seals were so happy to be released that they gave each other a big hug.
However, after that, Hessel’s birthday became a real surprise party full of unexpected events.
Lenie reports: ‘It started immediately after the release of the seals with a report that there was a dead seal lying at the bottom of the dyke. Unfortunately, we were unable to find it. However, while we were searching, Jan Koning from Vlieland telephoned us from his boat. He had been looking at a group of seals on the Engelse Hoek sandbank with a group of tourists when he saw a large grey seal with a piece of net around his neck. He said the animal was in such a position that he would be easy to catch.
Immediately, the fast rescue boat “Hurricane”, belonging to shipping company Noordgat, was brought into action. A couple of strong men came along and, of course, I went too. We speeded to the Engelse Hoek. There he was: An adult grey seal was sleeping on the sandbank. The net around his neck was clearly visible.
However, we had an even bigger surprise when we spotted our Black Lola in the middle of a group of seals. Two years ago, she had been found on Vlieland and released a couple of months later. She was doing great and it was great to see her again!
However, there was work to be done: The wounded seal had to be helped, so the men went ashore with long reaping hooks. Luckily, they were able to catch the net with one of the hooks and were able to restrain the seal.
At that moment, I jumped ashore. That is why there are no photos of the cutting of the net, which had cut deeply into the skin and flesh of the animal’s neck. Together, we restrained the animal with a blanket over its head, so that it was unable to bite us. Aike cut the net loose and pulled it carefully from the deep, bloody wound. I examined the wound thoroughly. The seal was otherwise in good condition and in such a case, he will recuperate faster in the salt water and the sun. Therefore, we let him swim off. The rescue operation came just in time: If the net had been around its neck any longer, the condition of the seal would have quickly deteriorated. Our thanks go to Jan Koning of Vlieland.
Hessel’s birthday will not be soon forgotten. I was just able to quickly grab a piece of cake before we had to go back to the ferry. We also picked up a Great Northern Diver that was to go to the bird sanctuary in Moddergat. And believe it or not, that same evening Hessel found another sick common seal. He spent most of his birthday out on the beach.
04-26-2008 Source: SRRC Lenie 't Hart
