A baby grey seal was discovered last May by surveyors from the Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust in England, and what they saw there broke their hearts. The seal was entangled in a fishing net that had grown securely around his neck.
The seal, known as “Lucky Star,” was in grave risk of being strangled to death, and he was helpless to get out of the situation.
After that initial discovery, a group of rescuers made every effort to help, but Lucky Star escaped into the water before they could apprehend him on land. Despite their disappointment, the people who were trying to assist him were adamant about saving the seal’s life.
In the ensuing weeks and months, Lucky Star was frequently sighted, but getting to him was a another issue.
The Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust said in a release that when he was spotted, “he would frequently be heartbreakingly just out of reach, either hauled out on offshore rocks or swimming in the sea where it was hard to get him.”
But then good fortune struck.
Four months after his initial discovery, a volunteer on Monday saw Lucky Star in a position where he might be approached on the coast. Dan Jarvis and Sue Sayer immediately formed a rescue team and sped to the area.
Before Lucky Star could run away, Jarvis was able to stop him, allowing Sayer to cut the rope that was around his neck.
At this point, Lucky Star’s life was preserved.
The degree of Lucky Star’s pain became clearer once the chokehold was released.
According to the Trust, a raw, deep cut that was visible underneath the net and ran over the back of his neck would have been extremely painful for him to move. But thankfully, the seal could now repair itself.
Sayer decided that Lucky Star was healthy enough to be released after cleaning the wound and administering antibiotics.
And with that, he was released to start living a normal life again.
Sadly, there are many instances of entanglement like this one, and as a result, countless numbers of marine species lose their lives.
Even though it required a lot of work, Lucky Star was kept out of that dismal statistic.
“I’ve observed this animal too many times and haven’t been able to save him, so I won’t let him scurry away again. Given that winter is approaching, saving him may have been our only option, Jarvis added. “I was utterly certain that we would be successful this time, and it suddenly felt like luck was finally on our side as well. We were all ecstatic and happy that we had finally been able to prevent him from dying a slow and agonising death.
