Just as we're preparing for the start of the common seal pupping season, what happens? We rescue a grey seal! A big thankyou to wildlife tour guide Hugh Harrop for alerting us yesterday to this poor fellow washed up on Quendale beach, where seals are rarely seen. An even bigger thankyou to Ali Robertson and Jenny Sutherland from RSPB Shetland who abandoned their desks and stayed with the seal until we arrived on a blustery summer's day. This seal was barely alive and momentarily confused us as it seemed to have the head of a grey seal and the nose of a common. For a moment we even considered it might be an exotic species from the Arctic, but no, it was a very, very poorly grey, probably born during the last winter. He was a fair size and a solid weight and it was a challenge to carry him the length of this long beach to the road from where he went straight to Shetland Vets. Despite being in the middle of consultations, wildlife vet nurse Lisa Trueman and her animal care assistant Millie managed to inject antibiotics and a litre of rehydration fluid under his skin to help boost his temperature, which had hit the floor and might well have kept him alive until he made it to the sanctuary in Hillswick. Finally a thankyou to Jim Fowles and Cheree Hulley, a couple of bikers from Wales up for the Simmer Dim Rally, who helped unload this heavy boy into the seal unit. Apparently yesterday was 'National Garfield the Cat Day', so Ali and Jenny have called him Garfield. He survived the night, but is barely conscious. We are tubing dehydration fluid and antibiotics down his throat and so far he lives, but whether he survives is open to question. Grey seals are incredibly tough creatures, but he is extremely unwell. We shall do what we can and hope for the best...while we continue to wait for the common seal pupping season to begin. #selkie #greyseal #quendale #shetland #wildlife

What a handsome boy! Smudge has finally completed his annual moult, an uncomfortable experience, but worth it when you see his smart new coat. He’s a much livelier seal now and his appetite is back. #selkie #greyseal #smudge

We are over the moon to be able to report that Smudge is eating again! He went off his food about three weeks ago after he fell ill and started producing a lot of phlegm from his mouth. Gradually he went off his food and stopped eating for almost two whole weeks. He would chomp on a fish, but never swallow anything. It reminded us of when he first arrived and refused to swallow. We were extremely concerned as seals get their fluid intake from the fish they eat, so there is a risk of dehydration. We were feeding him herring as we thought we had run out of mackerel, but then we found some, threw it into his pool and were delighted when he livened up and ate some. Our euphoria was short-lived when he stopped eating the mackerel as well. After vet visits and phone consultations we came to the conclusion that maybe the problem was in his throat, so we chopped up the fish and took the bones out. And lo and behold, he started wolfing down the pieces of mackerel. We're still cutting the fish up, but now we're leaving the bones in too. So Smudge seems to be on the mend. He's not 100 per cent yet, but hopefully he is now heading in the right direction. Good ol' Smudge, we do love you! #selkie #smudge #greyseal #shetland

The other day we had a surprise visit from Duncan Swainston and his daughter Isla who found Smudge the seal on the West Voe beach down in Sumburgh. They brought some mackerel to help Smudge get back into the swing of eating again after being off his food. It just so happened their visit was 18 months to the day after they found him…and it also happened to be Duncan’s birthday. What a coincidence! But he wouldn’t tell us how old he was… By the way, that’s Isla’s foot on the bottom right. She managed to avoid being in the photo somehow? And you can just see Smudge in the water. #selkie #smudge

Release time for Mani! Rescued as a cub in Orkney last August, he was brought north to the sanctuary on the Northlink ferry in September where he has grown from strength to strength, starting out with us on fish soup and ending up with a nightly feed of four or five haddock or whiting, tearing them to shreds with his powerful teeth and jaws. We could have released him earlier, but March is the worst month for food so we waited until mid April. What a joy it was to see him slink down to the sea from his old box after we had driven him several miles to the release site. Unusually he headed straight out into quite a turbulent sea rather than hugging the coast, as so many otters do when they first re-encounter the wild after growing up in captivity. Mani is clearly a survivor and he'll need all his wits about him to make it in his highly territorial world - an Orkney draatsie competing with the locals. We wish him well. Go Mani go! #draatsie #otter #shetland #wildlife

Mani the otter cub who arrived last autumn from Orkney is about to head out to the wild once the weather has calmed down. He’s more than ready to go, but March is the toughest month for wildlife at the end of a long winter with food supplies at their lowest. So now we’re just waiting for this wind to ease and spring to finally arrive…and then he can go! #draatsie

Last Sunday we received a call about this adult male otter who was curled up outside a house in Scalloway. The next morning he had disappeared but two days ago he was discovered in a back garden in Trondra eating frogs from a pond. He had clearly managed to swim across to the island, but something was clearly wrong as he seemed to be dragging his back legs. Fortunately today, with the help of wildlife vet nurse Lisa Trueman, we managed to catch him and take him to Scalloway Vets where an X Ray revealed multiple fractures. He was severely undernourished and clearly in extreme pain and as there was no way to repair the damage the only option was to put an end to his suffering. It transpires that this otter was struck by a car about 10 days ago and seeing the injuries he had, it is extraordinary that he managed to survive for so long, even managing to swim across a considerable stretch of sea. Otters are the most incredible creatures and we are so lucky to have the abundant population we do here in Shetland. It’s just so sad how often they get hit by cars. #draatsie #rip

Last Sunday we received a call about this adult male otter who was curled up outside a house in Scalloway. The next morning he had disappeared but two days ago he was discovered in a back garden in Trondra eating frogs from a pond. He had clearly managed to swim across to the island, but something was clearly wrong as he seemed to be dragging his back legs. Fortunately today, with the help of wildlife vet nurse Lisa Trueman, we managed to catch him and take him to Scalloway Vets where an X Ray revealed multiple fractures. He was severely undernourished and clearly in extreme pain and as there was no way to repair the damage the only option was to put an end to his suffering. It transpires that this otter was struck by a car about 10 days ago and seeing the injuries he had, it is extraordinary that he managed to survive for so long, even managing to swim across a considerable stretch of sea. Otters are the most incredible creatures and we are so lucky to have the abundant population we do here in Shetland. It’s just so sad how often they get hit by cars. #draatsie #rip

So the grey seal season has finally come to an end after four and a half months with the release of young Ariel, the adventurous pup who was found 300 yards inland after somehow managing to climb up a small cliff in Cunningsburgh during a howling easterly gale in January. A smart cookie if ever there was one, she took no time to moult her fur, learn the ropes of eating fish independently and even demonstrated her climbing skills once again when she managed to haul herself out of an empty pool all by herself. We're still scratching our heads as to how she managed it. When it came to releasing her she showed no hesitation, though she struggled a little with the swell, hugging the shoreline until she built up the confidence to head out to sea and into the wild life she was always destined for. Unlike most of our rescued seals, she even developed a friendly relationship with Smudge, who now has the pool all to himself again. #selkie #¢sealpup #greyseal #shetland #wildlife

Dodie arrived at the sanctuary just one month ago. He was at death's door when he was found on the beach at Grutness by Sumburgh Airport. We weren't sure whether he would survive those first few days, so shallow and painful was his breathing. But these grey seals can be incredibly resilient when they want to be, and Dodie definitely wanted to be. It took him just over a week to recover from what we assume was a major lungworm infestation, though we only ever actually saw two or three of the little blighters. From that point, there was no turning back. As soon he was outside in the pools he started hoovering up the fish and piling on the pounds, and when we put him in the big pool with Smudge they made friends straight away. We had no hesitation about releasing him as soon as he reached a good weight. He hit the beach running, or the seal equivalent, and we barely had time to get a camera out before he made it into the water, surfaced once and promptly disappeared into the wild ocean for good where a full life awaits. Go Dodie go! #selkie #sealpup #greyseal #shetland #wildlife