Every year, about two hundred seals are rehabilitated at the SRRC. At the moment, about half of these animals are common seals, the other half are grey seals. Occasionally, 'wandering guests' wash ashore on the Dutch coast. These are non-indigenous seal-species, such as hooded seals, harp seals or ringed seals, which live in the Arctic areas. Once, a bearded seal was rehabilitated at the SRRC and there even was a walrus too.
Seals are found and brought in from all along the Dutch coast. The largest percentage is found on the Frisian Wadden Sea Islands (71%). The remaining animals are found along the Frisian coast (3%), in Groningen (13%), North Holland (3%), South Holland (5%) and Zeeland (5%).
The predicaments that the seals at the SRRC in Pieterburen suffer from are very divers. During the birth period it is usually young animals that have become separated from their mothers. Common seals give birth in the summer, grey seals in winter.
After the nursing period, many common seals are brought in to the SRRC with infections. A common problem is parasitic infections caused by lungworm. In recent years, we have seen an increase in infectious diseases under grey seals too. In 1988 and 2002, the morbillivirus, Phocine Distemper Virus (PDV) was responsible for a mass mortality amongst mainly common seals in the North Sea. During both periods about 60% of the population in this area died.
Recently, there has been an increase in seals that are wounded by drifting waste. These seals often have awful wounds, which are caused by them getting caught up in fish nets, rubber rings and even once, a toilet brush holder.
Depending on the ailments of the seal, rehabilitation at the SRRC takes 3 to 4 months on average. Then the seal is released back into the wild.
