Children from Zeeland in action

Last Friday, Lenie 't Hart visited Zeeland to attend twelve year old Anna from Nieuwdorp's class talk. The contact more or less started by accident when Anna contacted the SRRC via email. Lenie was impressed by Anna's talk. "She has really done her best to find lots of information, but what I find especially important is that she understands so well what is happening to the seals and why it is so important that we help them," said Lenie.

Anna had enthused her class so much that they all started collecting towels. Lenie gladly received them: "We always need lots of towels for the seals. The animals like to lie on them and we use them to handle the seals. But they get very dirty and often tear so we can no longer use them. That is why people always can make us happy with towels."
Lenie told Anna that she considered her a great spokesperson for the seals, and Anna told her that she would love to come and work as a volunteer for the SRRC. In this way we work on building a good future for the seals!

Source: SRRC Lenie ‘t Hart

Unveiling information board about seals

A beautiful day for Vlissingen today! On the beach Lenie 't Hart revealed the first information board about seals. The board gives useful information about the common and grey seals along the Dutch coast and what to do if you find a seal in need. The municipality of Vlissingen is placing six such boards. Hopefully other coastal towns will follow this example.

Of course it is great that there are more seals and that people along the Dutch coast can enjoy these beautiful animals. But seals are also getting into trouble more often. Pollution causes sickness in half of all young seals, and disruption causes many young animals to lose their mother.

Fortunately, SRRC's volunteers are on call both day and night to help seals in need. These seal first aiders are called in when a sick or orphaned seal is found and ensure that the animal is quickly brought to the rehabilitation centre in Pieterburen. Our main motivation is releasing rehabilitated seals back to their natural habitat. Let's be honest: what is more beautiful than the return of freedom?

SRRC Lenie 't Hart best outing in Groningen

SRRC Lenie 't Hart has been chosen by some 70.000 members of the ANWB as the best outing in the province of Groningen. Other nominees were, among others, the Groninger Museum, Bourtange Fortress, the Dutch Comics museum and DoeZoo insect-world. Especially the atmosphere and the staff's helpfulness was highly appreciated in Pieterburen. Some comments about the SRRC: "Fantastic dedication. Discipline and drive. A detailed and enthusiastic explanation. Clear and instructive info."

Drama on the Beach

Finder Diko Holsvoogd sent us another picture of the terrible situation that he encountered on the beach of Terschelling. Luckily, in Pieterburen, the poor animal could quickly be freed from its instrument of torture, as can be seen in the article below. Now, the seal is already doing better. He is feeding himself and is swimming with other seals in the Large Bath, one of the outside pools.

Source: Zeehondencrèche Lenie 't Hart

Net victims

For the second time in a short while a young grey seal has been brought in wounded by roaming pieces of fishnet.
Both net victims were found on the beach of Terschelling.
 
It is almost always grey seals that get caught up in fishnets.
Despite all efforts to gather roaming nets out of the sea, seals still regularly get caught up in nets.


Nets continue catching things even when they are no longer attached to fishing boats. This is why many animals, such as birds, porpoises, dolphins and seals get caught up in them.

The mountain of nets on the SRRC terrain functions as a monument and a symbol of the dangers caused by people at sea. All nets on the mountain in Pieterburen – more than 1000 tonnes in total– have been collected by Dutch fishermen at the SRRC's request.

Source: SRRC Lenie 't Hart

Pictures: Ana Rubio Garcia and Guillermo Sanches Contreras

Rare hooded seal at the SRRC

On March 16th, through the control room of South Holland's animal ambulance service -south from seal first aid post southwest - a sick seal was reported on the headland at Oostvoorne. Thanks to the efforts of the seal first aid network's volunteers, the animal could be brought to Pieterburen quickly. There, the year-old female hooded seal was placed in quarantine.

Hooded seals live in the Arctic Ocean. Now and then, the "vagrants" swim too far south and reach our waters. Sometimes, they are found in or near the Wadden Sea. The last time a hooded seal was rehabilitated at the SRRC was in August 2010. This is the 19th hooded seal since the beginning of the rehabilitation in 1972.
 
Lenie 't Hart: "Just now the seal hunt in Canada is starting up again, a lost hooded seal washes up on our shore. Terrible what is going to happen there: thousands of hooded seals and three hundred thousand white baby harp seals are permitted to be murdered. They are lying on the ice and have no escape."

Young hooded seals are born with a beautiful blue-grey fur (blue back). The young animal that is now being rehabilitated at the SRRC will soon start moulting. It looks as if the seal is going to make it: She is already feeding herself.

Source: SRRC Lenie ‘t Hart

Adventurous seal still in Delfzijl's backwaters

(Photo: Jos Kuipers)
The seal, that has been roaming through North Groningen in recent months, now keeps being spotted in the Oosterhornkamaal near Delfzijl. Apparently, the seal really likes it there. He can look after himself well, because there's plenty of fish. It shows: He looks healthy and fat.

(Photo: Lenie 't Hart)
We will continue to keep an eye on the seal. He may become a regular guest, just like the grey seal who used to come in via the locks at Delfzijl, treat himself to some eals, take a nap on Dow Chemical's quay and would then swim back into the Wadden Sea.

Source: SRRC Lenie 't Hart

Report: SRRC number one in scientific research on seals in the Netherlands

Press release

Leiden Institute assesses the impact of SRRC Lenie 't Hart's scientific work as well above worldwide levels.

The Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University was commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to analyse the value of the scientific publications of two research institutes, including the SRRC. The CWTS's conclusion is that the SRRC performs well above world levels. If the world average is set at value 1, then the SRRC scores 1.79, which is almost 80% higher! The SRRC is very happy. They consider the findings of independent CWTS a great compliment to the organization.
 
Lenie 't Hart: "Without government funding and with only a small number of scientists, the SRRC is able to provide high quality research on seals. Without Prof. Dr. Ab Osterhaus's inspiring leadership and the huge support from people with a warm heart for seals, this great result would not have been possible. "

The study was a bibliometric study, where both the number of scientific publications and the importance of each publication is combined in a weighted index. This standardised impact analysis (Mean Normalized Citation Score, MNCS) can then be compared with the average of all scientific institutes combined. All the SRRC's publications from 1980 onwards were examined in this manner. The CWTS states: "The MNCS measures the standardised impact and shows that the SRRC's publications carry an impact well above world average (1)."

Source: SRRC Lenie 't Hart

Pieterburen in Russia

On January 26th, the Russian television channel, Channel One, broadcasted a programme about the SRRC three times.
The director proudly told us that the viewers valued the programme as the "best story of the day".
Click HERE to see the three minute item.

Lenie 't Hart will soon be participating in an extensive report about the Russian Ladoga seal.

Source: SRRC Lenie 't Hart

A week of campaigning for Lenie GaGa

During last week, Lenie was involved in lots of campaigns and activities with kids at schools and at the SRRC. She reports on it herself:

The last week was such a party with so many kids. Because children are the future, I think that's always great.
It started at the weekend when two girls came to the SRRC, Lisa and her friend, with a big surprise for me: a beautiful piece of art made from the money they had collected. It was a real shame to destroy it, but we simply needed to have the money...