SEAL RESCUE IRELAND

Seal Rescue Ireland is a charity dedicated to saving seal pups in distress and nursing them back to health in the hopes of releasing them back to the wild. The centre started out in Dingle but had to relocate to Courtown, Wexford after storms caused too much damage. They have a network of around 640 volunteers all over Ireland who will catch injured or abandoned seal pups and help transport them to the centre. In terms of actual facilities, they have a kitchen where they prepare the food and medication, 3 intensive care units, 12 kennels where the weaker seals stay and rest, 3 open pools and a pre-release pool which is surrounded by walls to try and isolate the seals from humans as much as possible.

The centre is designed to teach as much as possible to the visitors. Inside the visitor centre they have a "Wall of Seals" that gives more information about each seal they currently have in their care and about what can lead seals to need rescuing. They have a section dedicated to teaching about marine litter and how trash affects the marine life. They also collect plastic bottles and soft plastics to be made into Eco-Bricks that they want to use to build more facilities! Towards the exit to the outdoor space there is an area with real seal fur, skull, eye and things they can use to familiarize the visitors with the "biology" of the animals. In the outdoor area they detail step by step the process of rescuing a seal all the way from capture to release. Seal Rescue Ireland is completely funded by donations so they also sell merchandise, plastic-free alternatives to everyday objects and local arts and crafts and all the proceeds go to them.

GETTING THERE

Now this is all well and good but the centre is in Courtown, Co. Wexford and I live in Dublin, so how do I get there? Driving is definitely the best option but I don't own a car and because of paperwork issues, I can't rent one either. I did some research and while no public transport goes to Courtown, the buses and trains go to Gorey, which is the next town over.

So Saturday morning, 8:30 am and I'm hopping on a Bus Eireann in the direction of Gorey. It's pretty cool because it reminds me of when I was in Ireland as a tourist! I got to Gorey at 10am. Now for a word of advice regarding taxis, because I'm a city girl that thinks the taxi app works everywhere, I strongly advise to just go into a café and ask for a taxi phone number. The lovely lady at the The Snug cafe was super helpful. The taxi ride is 10-12 minutes and cost around 10€. I finally got to the centre at 10:30 a bit late but the girl waiting for me at the reception was super nice and didn't hold it over me!

THE ACTUAL TASKS

Now, it's all cute and fun to say I'm going to be "playing with seal pups all day" but this is a rescue centre and not a petting zoo, and there's actual work to do! When I got there I was paired with a volunteer (Hi Emilie!) who explained everything to me in details : the rules to follow as well as our game plan for the day. The first and most important rule (I think) is to not touch the seals. First of all it could be dangerous, but since they will eventually be released into the wild, it's important to keep their exposure to humans to a minimum. Before starting I got a very fashionable set of overalls and wellies and gathered gear for the day like buckets and brushes. Pretty basic but also pretty important!

Task 1 : Cleaning the kennels. Some seals that are injured, contagious or too weak to swim are kept in kennels which need to be cleaned from top to bottom. I think this was my favourite part because it's where you are very close to the seal and I have to admit, it's hard to resist petting them. The kennels contain a bathtub, a rubber mat and a heating mat and everything needs to be scrubbed. You also have to maneuver around the seal, and my little Zoe seemed very interested in eating the hose and the brush, sorry girl!

Task 2 : Cleaning a pool. I got lucky here because the weather was so nice. The centre has 4 pools and they each need to be drained and cleaned once in a while. It takes a bit of time but I enjoyed chatting with Emilie and I got to ask all my nerdy questions about the centre and seals and marine life in general. It's also pretty sweet because you get to see the seals interact with each other and follow you around. This is also the moment where I was very glad I said yes to waterproof overalls.

Task 3 : Feeding the seals. The seals that needed feeding when I was there were in pools, so the whole thing was pretty straight forward. We started by calculating the amount of fish each pool needed and then weighing it. The dead fish are a bit disgusting and maybe not for the squeamish but oh well, it's part of the adventure! The idea with the pools is to make the seals work for the food, so it's good to throw the fish as far away from them as possible in the deeper parts.

The things to do vary depending on when you visit obviously, I saw some people preparing the fish to eat, preparing the fish soup for the seals on a liquid diet, weighing the seals, etc etc. If you're lucky you might even get to help for a seal release!

FINAL THOUGHTS - WOULD I DO IT AGAIN?

I had such an amazing day! Everyone there was incredibly nice, I learned so much and it was kind of funny to be inside the kennels and having visitors asking me questions like I ACTUALLY worked there. If I lived around there I'd definitely be volunteering on a regular basis. Sadly though it was kind of difficult to reach the actual centre, it cost me a total of 36,50€ for transport which isn't massive but it does end up being a pricey day trip. The experience itself cost 50€, which is a donation to the centre and I was more than happy to pay for that though.

I think behind-the-scenes experiences like these are so much better than going to see animals in tanks in a marine park. You get to actually be a part of it and end up leaving feeling amazing. I recommend the experience to anyone who is passing through Courtown or who is curious about animal rescue. It's also a kind of program I was never aware of and will definitely look into whenever I travel to new places!

OTHER WAYS TO HELP

If you want to help but this experience isn't available to you, there are loads of other ways! They accept interns and local volunteers who are willing to commit to certain times depending on the position. They have a membership program where you can donate monthly which gives you access to behind the scenes information. They also have a list of items they need to keep the centre running, so if you can spare any of these it's a very easy way to get involved. They also require professional help from accountants, lawyers, etc.

I think my favourite option is Adopting A Seal. Will you have a pet seal to bring home? No. But you will get regular updates on your seal, seal themed goodies, you seal's story and a cute certificate! They have packages from 30 to 100€ so it's easy to contribute. They also have a very special option to name a seal for 500€! If you think you could help in any other way you can always contact them to offer your services, I'm sure they will appreciate it either way!

I want to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone at Seal Rescue Ireland for welcoming me so kindly and for all the amazing work that you do with these cuties! You can follow their work on their Facebook Page, they have releases happening all over Ireland.

If you're curious about more ways you can help save the ocean, I got you covered here.
Is this the kind of program you'd be interested in trying? Do you know of other cool ones? Let me know! xx