Andy Torbet visits a seal sanctuary in Cornwall after being invested with a lofty title courtesy of the SeaLife Trust
TORBET ON THE TUBE
Get your Gweek on , Mr Ambassador
Andy Torbet visits a seal sanctuary in Cornwall after being invested with a lofty title courtesy of the SeaLife Trust
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’ ve been fortunate enough to snorkel with various large mammals around the coast of the UK . Whales , dolphins and seals are relatively prolific around the British Isles , with regular appearances from some of the largest , including the humpback , sperm , minke and orca . When it comes to dolphins , the bottlenose pod of the Moray Firth are the most northerly
Face-to-face with a pinniped pup
of their species in the world . But the most common sight to us divers , snorkellers and shore explorers , are seals .
Apart from the odd freak visitation of a sea lion or outboard chewing walrus , the UK ’ s resident pinnipeds fall into two species – common or harbour seals and grey seals . The former , inappropriately named , is much rarer ; the only time I ’ ve witnessed them in significant numbers was while sea kayaking near the Falls of Lora near Oban . So that ’ s in a sea loch . Not a harbour .
The grey seal is much more common , and thus the one we ’ re most likely to see basking on rocks or inspecting us underwater . I have been lucky enough to film with grey seals on six separate occasions , in Cornwall , around Lundy , off the Monach Isles , along the Dornach Firth ( although this time above the water ) and twice at the Farne Islands . And this does not include the countless interactions with them , mostly in Devon and Cornwall , on my ‘ days off ’. The encounters have always been friendly and inspiring . So , I was very pleased to become an Ambassador of the SeaLife Trust , and visit their Seal Sanctuary in Gweek .
The sanctuary was founded in 1958 , so it ’ s five years younger than BSAC , but a venerable institution nevertheless . My visit took place in June , so I missed the busy seal pup rescue season . This runs from August to September , while their eventual rehabilitation and release hopefully takes place around March .