Seal Rescue Ireland is a conservation non-profit, headquartered in

County Wexford, Ireland County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinn ...

. According to the '' BBC'', its main work includes "rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing orphaned and sick

seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

from across the country."

History

Both common and grey seals are cared for by a team of volunteers at its seal visitor and rehabilitation centre in Courtown, County Wexford. In 2019, it restored Courtown Woods. In January 2020, it advocated for closing a beach in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

for nine months out of the year to protect a colony of seals. In the same month, they noted that rare seals, usually found in the Arctic, were appearing off the coasts of Cork and Kerry and they reduced their first, and so far only, arctic ringed seal. As of May 2020, its CEO was Melanie Croce and it had 1.2 million followers on TikTok. In February 2021, it launched a marine conservation virtual learning tool in collaboration with SSE Renewables. It began to collaborate with Orca Ireland and the NPWS, sharing their database of dead seals in order to attain a better understanding of the causes of seal deaths. Injured or orphaned seal pups in Seal Rescue Ireland's care are comforted by "fake mums" which are made from old wetsuits. The "wetsuit mums" are designed to look and feel like adult seals. They are placed with the orphaned pups in the centre's intensive care unit. Seal Rescue Ireland adopted the use of "Ecobricks," a building material consisting of plastic bottles which are tightly packed with soft plastics. The bricks have been used by to make furniture, such as stools. Seal Rescue Ireland hosts Marine Conservation Roadshows and school tours to educate schoolchildren on threats to seals and ways to reduce them.

References

{{reflist Animal conservation organizations Wildlife rehabilitation and conservation centers