Adopt a seal !!! (National Seal Sanctuary)

Member Name: ANDREWSJK

Product:	National Seal Sanctuary
Date:	28/11/01 (1193 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Protects the seals, Nice location, It's in Cornwall isn't it ??

Disadvantages: Could have had more seals on the day ANDREWSJK went.

O.K You lot, here's the deal, my last 3 ops haven't quite hit the mark and that's because I was so aware of the complaints I'd been getting that I changed !! What into you say, you're no butterfly ?? Well no, harmonyk can confirm that !!! No, I became a caring sharing, listening person. Jennifer3002 has just erupted, and her computer screen is covered with cornflakes right now !! O.K deal is, I'm me, no holds barred, and you all give me another Crown ??? Good, deal, did I ever tell you I've got 8 Crowns, oh blimey, I better not start that lark had I ??

Before I give you some Very Useful information on adopting a seal I'll tell you a little joke eh !! Yes, that's it, op is getting into the swing now. Fine, well I've not been name dropping the super Angied0 much lately, and her reads have been dropping because of this you naughty people, so I went into a pub with her. Now, I know this would be very unusual for me and harmonyk is going to go bonkers at the end of this op, but this is Dooyoo. Anyway, we were sitting discussing new ops, when I said to the barman "Have you heard the joke about the blonde ?". The barman said " No, I haven't sir, but I must say that I am blonde, 6 foot 6 inches tall, and very fit : my wife there is also blonde and an ex-champion WWF wrestler: over there is my brother who is also blonde and an ex-black belt judo champion: sitting behind you is my sister who is also blonde and weighs 16 stone and the other barman is her husband who is also blonde and quite a size, so carry on with the joke sir !!" . I replied "Oh, I don't think I'll tell you the joke if I've got to repeat it 5 times ".

Shall I start the op, o.k. I'm going to tell you about the National Seal Sanctuary at Gweek near Helston in Cornwall. There is a website at www.sealsanctuary.co.uk if you want to go away for a while as I ramble on. First dear readers I must tell you how
I got into Cornwall, cos Smark1985 has been bothered about how I could have achieved this and avoided his barricades. Well, I'll tell you, basically I'll go another route next time anyway. Actually I got to Cornwall via France !! Well, you see, before the lovely harmonyk stopped me smoking, I needed the duty paid cigs and lagers so I hopped over there on the Friday night, filled the car up, and then stayed near Folkestone in Kent for the night !! In the morning, I kept to the A259 coast road, and nearer Southampton I got on to the M27 motorway and speeded up a bit. Entering Devon, I mingled with the traffic in Exeter until I reached the A30, and then put the wheelie in on the car and flew. I did pass a speed camera at 85 mph with my foot on the brakes as well. See Smarky, that's how it's done !!

Now, where was I ??? Right, seal sanctuary. The National Seal Sanctuary is set on the picturesque reaches of the Helford Estuary. It is a home for some fascinating members of the marine worlds creatures. The National Seal sanctuary has welcomed over 5 million visitors over the last 25 years of its existence. This is Europe's leading marine animal rescue centre and cares for dozens of sick, injured and orphaned seals every year. The basic admission price is £6.50 for adults £4.25 for children, but many discounts can be obtained on this, for example I had a leaflet offering £1 per person. The sanctuary is open from 09.00 to 17.00 most of the year, 16.00 in winter.

Does ANDREWSJK know about seals you say, keeps on at Sue26 about sheep, but seals ??? Listen, seals are born between September and December, they mate 12 monthly, and the gestation period is 9 months. When the baby is born it is approx 30 lbs in weight and 3 feet in length. An adult seal weighs approx. 700 lbs and is 7 to 8 foot long. As a true mammal it can live out of water, but can stay under water for up to 30 minutes. A seal moults every spring. An adult seal eats 10 to 1
4 lbs. of fish a day. It has two internal ears and a baby seal is born with teeth, and with a white creamy coat which it loses at three weeks of age. It also has five digits with long nails on the front flippers, like hands, and carry the full weight of the seal. The back flippers are large webs with which they swim, and they have a small tail about three inches long. Females are usually light grey and males dark grey. The are mature around seven years of age and have good hearing and sight. They are very intelligent. Baby seals need no water during their stay in the hospital. You were saying about ANDREWSJK not knowing about seals ??

So, layout of the sanctuary. Well, firstly you walk through the shop and bung the sanctuary tons of your hard earned cos you want a plastic model of a seal to go with a rubber model of a kangaroo you got from last years trip to the zoo, and then you step outside into the land train as it a bit hilly and you might as well have a ride as it's free. There are five pools and a hospital, so I'll start with the hospital and the idea.

Hospital

Was that funny ??? O.K without going into a mammoth history of the Grey Atlantic Seal, let me say that a baby will be separated from it's mum by either being washed away by the tide or the mother may be off finding food while the baby does a runner !!The baby may be washed miles away, and by the time it is washed ashore it will be exhausted, suffering from shock and pneumonia, and this is where the hospital come in. Entering the hospital you see a video of the hospital team going to a beach following a tip-off phone call (???) . They of course have Land Rovers etc to retrieve injured seals. The seals are taken to the hospital, made well over a period of anything from 6 to 12 weeks, marked for tracking purposes, and then released back into the wild. During the breeding season there will be many seals in the hospital, how many did ANDREWSJK see. EEEr, one actually, w
ent wrong time of year didn?t I !!!

Now, about the five pools ??

FIVE POOLS

Stop laughing, I can't help it. There is a residents pool where the older seals are kept. These have some disability which means they will not be returned to the wild. The best time to see the residents, when I went their names were Magnus, Scooby, Anneka and Ming, is at feeding time. Although they may be deaf, blind or whatever, they have great personalities.

There is also a rehabilitation pool, a nursery pool and a convalescence pool and there is an underwater observation point which was a bit of fun. One minor criticism I would make however is that at the time of year I went, late September, some of the pools were empty, so chose your date carefully. Listen and remember what ANDREWSJK tells you now. See Aunty Faye fg2001, they do listen to me sometimes !!

O.K. even I can count, that was four pools, well the fifth contains something different, sea lions so neer to you. There is Carus, a Patagonian Sea Lion and Rocky, a Californian Sea Lion. Rocky was born in captivity in a facility at Brighton and is now blind. He leads a contented life with Pepper, a female Californian Sea Lion who came over from Cape Cod Aquarium in the USA. There is also an underwater observatory here. Now, feeding time with the Sea Lions is a scream, they run about and swim, chase the fish everywhere and do tricks, must be seen.

The pools are being upgraded, but really the money the centre produces is well spent is protecting the species. Now you want to know if ANDREWSJK adopted a seal ?? Well, I'm a very shy person, and as I haven't told harmonyk yet, can I tell you later ??

And for the next in my adoption series, see "Adopt a sheep".......

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