Since the three seals’ escape on Saturday morning the SRRC workers and dozens volunteers have been doing much searching. Soon, Ulbe was spotted near the SRRC (position 1 on the map) and was caught within a couple of hours, but Emma and Seppe had vanished without a trace. So the search continued.
All weekend searches were being carried out with boats that searched the waters around Pieterburen, with sniffer dogs that were trained to find animals, with the aid of a muskrat catcher and with SRRC workers and volunteers who plodded on foot through the marshy fields around the SRRC.
There wasn’t a trace to be seen. Only the air holes in the thin ice might have been made by a seal, said the muskrat catcher. Parts of the Pieterbuurstermaar (canal next to the SRRC) were fenced off with nets and fences so that the seals – if they still were around – would not be able to swim into the province any further.
But, apart from Ulbe, not a seal was seen on Saturday or on Sunday.
On Monday morning, 7 AM, a report came in from Birdaard (position 3 on the map): A seal had been seen in the Dokkumer Ee. It was a serious report but our employee who went over directly was not able to find the seal. Later (Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 PM), another sighting would take place in Birdaard.
Monday afternoon around three a report came in from Leeuwarden, where a group of people had seen a seal in the Sneekertrekvaart (position 4). But, again, our employees were unable to find anything.
On Tuesday, employees went out to search again: Boats sailed through the canals of Groningen. As many eyes as possible were called in to help: All muskrat catchers, farmers, fishermen, Frisian and Groningen water board employees, angler club members and so on. All were asked to keep on the lookout. That afternoon the aforementioned report came in from Birdaard. Towards the evening a report of a seal swimming in front of the locks came from Zoutkamp (position 2). Five fishermen had seen the seal there. That evening two employees searched the whole of Zoutkamp, but to no avail.
Wednesday morning the search in Zoutkamp was continued, because that sighting seemed so promising. Even so, no seal was found there. Wednesday around noon a new report came from Leeuwarden, where tourists had seen a seal near the Verlaat bridge. And Wednesday evening there was a report from Dronrijp (position 5) about a seal in the Van Harinxma canal, which was swimming towards Harlingen.
If we place all sightings in a row, it looks as if one of the seals is making its way through Dokkum, Birdaard, Leeuwarden and Dronrijp to Harlingen, so to the Wadden Sea. The second seal could still be in the neighbourhood of Zoutkamp. There is a lot of draining going on there, so this seal could reach the Wadden Sea via Lauwersoog or Leeuwarden. Still, it seems strange that the reports and times of sighting are not in a logical order everywhere. Sometimes it even seems as if there is a third seal swimming in the Frisian waters...
We would really love to be able to see the seals for ourselves, because our employees are able to recognise Emma and Seppe. Then we will have certainty and can rest at ease.02-18-2009 Source: SRRC Lenie 't Hart
